


It had to be Jessica

by Tanner_Clark



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, OOC characters, Reincarnated as Jessica Stanley, Reincarnation, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:07:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21724969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tanner_Clark/pseuds/Tanner_Clark
Summary: When I woke up as a completely different person in a fictional world, I knew there were a lot of things that needed to be changed. But I didn't want things to change in this way.
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Jessica Stanley, Jacob Black/Bella Swan
Comments: 31
Kudos: 411





	1. Chapter 1

The day I woke up it started like any other. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and an alarm was blaring Britney Spears in my ears. I woke up, yawned, and stretched before realizing that something was very… Wrong…. The blanket didn’t feel like my blanket and the pillow was way softer then I remembered and the scent surrounding me was unfamiliar and yet strangely familiar. Like when you enter a store for the first time in years, but you never knew where the smell came from. 

My eyes snapped open only to be bombarded with an eye-bleeding amount of pure, unadulterated PINK! I screamed loudly in shock and terror, my throat wanting to tear itself out. I leapt out of the bed and stumbled back against the wall, a mirror to my right caught my eye and the second I looked into my reflection I screamed again. That is NOT me. My hair wasn’t this light brown wavy mess and my eyes weren’t these crystal clear blue- wow it looks pretty… ANYWAY and I was not, in any way, skinny! The door to the room I was in swung open and a worried couple stepped like they were expecting to find a murder scene.

“Jessica, are you okay?” The woman asked. I stared wide eyed in terror at the unfamiliar woman, the man came and stood next to her with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Must have been a nightmare. Look Jess, you’re 12-years-old now, no more screaming like that after just waking up, we know your brother does it but that’s because he is only 5-years-old.”

I was suddenly hit with a boat load of information that caused unbelievable pressure to my head. These were my parents and my little brother they were talking about was Maximus… But…. I’m not 12, I’m 21! I have 3 younger brothers not one… and … I was in a happy relationship, and my son had just turned one year old… 

It is possible that... all of that was a dream…? But for some reason, I feel differently about it. 

“Sorry Daddy.” I said softly, looking back at my reflection. This was something to get used to.

~~~~~~~

I blinked my tired blue eyes open. I stared up at the pale purple ceiling of my bedroom. The birds were unusually loud today.

Sitting up, I rubbed my head. My hair had darkened as I got older. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up slowly, stretching my arms above my head before I stood up from my bed after throwing back the covers. I made my way to the small white dresser in the corner of the room next to my closet. I pulled out a change of underwear and matching bra and a pair of form fitting jeans. Next was to pull my favorite frilly purple top. I thought about a book from my past life/dream self, and how I shared a name with the minor character, but it was a dream and there is no way that I am that person! Yeah! No way! I quickly got dressed before going over to my desk with a small mirror sitting on it. I stared at my reflection and smiled. I like this face of mine, much better than the one from before and easier to manage with routine washing. I run a brush through my loose curls and once that was taken care of I stood up and grabbed a pair of lavender socks and pulled them up before sliding on my favorite dark purple converse. 

As I was just getting ready to leave my room, rapid pounding on the door startled me. 

“Jessie! Hurry up! It's your first day of your 10th grade year!” My little brother’s voice screamed through the wood. I swear he was more excited about it then I was.

I rolled my eyes. This is getting ridiculous. At least in this life I’ll actually finish high school. “I’m coming Max, shut your trap!” I swung the door open hard enough to have him fall into my room. His dark brown hair fell into his bright green eyes as he looked up at me from my floor. 

“Morning!” He grinned widely, causing me to roll my eyes once more. I loved this kid, don’t get me wrong, but seriously, he can be annoying. I guess that’s just the curse of little brothers.

I was only 15, going on 16 but still, living through puberty again sucked. At least in this life I’m not a nutcase with Bipolar and ADHD issues.

“Come on squirt, lets go and get some breakfast.” I snorted and shook my head. My brother quickly came to my side and held my hand. He was only 7 but he was really clingy. 

“Hey Jessie, I’m turning 8 soon!” he said excitedly. “Soon I will be taller than you!” He gave me a toothy grin, he was missing two of his teeth, one on the top and one on the bottom on the opposite sides. His cheeks were freckled and it was really cute. I ruffled his hair which he proceeded to complain about.

“I know you’re turning 8 soon, and guess what! You’ve got a long time before you even hope to be taller than me.” I knew I was kidding myself, I was 5’1”, shorter than I was in my last life. I shook my head, before hopping down the stairs. “What’s for breakfast Mommeo?” I asked, grinning as I sat down.

“French toast and eggs, don’t expect this every morning. I don’t work today, which is why I was able to make you breakfast.” My mom turned and handed me a plate of food. Mmmmm. I love mom’s french toast. 

“Don’t worry, I can handle breakfast if I get up early.” I grinned before digging in.

Maximus made a blech face before accepting a plate from our mom. “You’re cooking is gross.” 

I glared at him. “I’m not that bad and you know it.” I pointed my fork at him. “I burn the eggs once and I can never live it down. Not my fault we didn’t have any butter or spray...”

He laughed before quickly scarfing down his food. 

Once I finished, I put my plate in the sink. Today I started my sophomore year at Forks High. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it. But at least I don’t do too terribly at school. If you call getting straight A’s terrible that is. It felt good being smart, since in my last life I held a D average if I was lucky. I can’t help but keep thinking back to my life, I missed my family. But I love this family too. Out of sight out of mind. 

I shook my head and grinned. “Time to go!” I grabbed my jacket and gloves. “I’ll see you after school!” I called as I grabbed my bike helmet and bike lock. Stuffing the bike lock into my purple and yellow backpack I made sure I had my house keys before slamming the door behind me. 

Once I hopped down the steps of the porch I went and got my shiny metallic purple mountain bike from the garage. My pride and joy, at least until I can get my first car after getting my license. I strapped on my purple bike helmet and started the ride to the school. God, I love that everything can be bought as purple, I just need a reason for my mom to take me to Hot Topic for purple pants. I smirked slightly. I can’t wait to see Angela and to ask her how her family trip went. Angela was my best friend, she was quiet, bookish and nerdy and I loved it.

Once I reached the school I locked up my bike at the bike rack, double-checking the lock, and skipped happily towards the usual hang out where Angela, Eric, and I usually hung out. Seeing the two black haired kids I grinned and burst into a hug. “ANGIE!” I screamed once I was close enough to tackle her in a hug. “How are the twins?” I grinned after I finished laughing. 

“They’re good. Both brats as usual, but good.” Angela replied after finally calming her heart. 

“Cool, I should bring Maximus over to play some time, he misses his friends.” Her little brothers were a year younger than my brother but he got along with them well enough.

“They would like that.” Angela agreed with a smile. 

I grinned back at her. “So! Let me see your schedules!” I held my hand out with a serious expression to both her and Eric.

```

It was halfway through this year that it happened. Something that shocked me to my core. The Cullens registered. They were sitting at my friends usual table, all cool and sparkly, not literally sparkly but god damn were they beautiful. And man that was a lot of white. 

I snorted. Just my luck, huh? I gazed around before my eyes landed on Angela getting harassed by a girl named Lauren Mallory.

Storming over I took my tray full of gross cafeteria spaghetti and casually dumped it onto the front of the snobby blonde’s top. That was definitely not going to wash out of that pale blue shirt.

“Ooooooh!” She screeched, turning her sharp blue eyes in my direction. “You’ll pay for this, Stanley!”

“Try me, Mallory.” I replied, shoving her out of the way and plopping down next to Angela who was too nice for her own good to stand up for herself. 

Lauren stood there sputtering as she tried to find the words to combat what I just said, but I knew she wasn’t smart enough for it. Yeah, she's got good grades but she also knew I would throw it back in her face if she tried. I’ve been doing it since middle school after all. Perks about this high school not having a zero tolerance policy yet.

Deciding to ignore her, I turned to my red-faced best friend and gave her a scolding look. “Are you okay?” I asked, tilting my head so I could get a better look at her..

She nodded silently, adjusting her glasses so that they were more up her nose. I didn’t miss that one bit. I’m so happy I don’t need glasses in this life.

I looked and quickly noticed Eric taking his seat across from Angela. “Who the heck is sitting at our table?” he muttered.

I shrugged. “Beats me, I couldn’t tell you even if it's to save my life.” I cringed, laying it on too thick Jessica, dial it back a bit.

Sitting without eating at lunch was becoming a norm for me. I was either wasting by dumping it on Lauren or it was just too nasty to eat. I spent the whole half hour talking with Angela and Eric, catching up on missed weekends.

~~~

After the last class of the day, which I shared with both Eric and Angela, I waved goodbye to them both as I headed to the bike rack to unlock my bike and ride home. It was February 8th, 6 days before my birthday which fell on Valentines day. I winced slightly, I hate that. I miss having a September birthday.

Turning my bike down towards the road I turned and caught eyes with the copper haired cullen. I felt myself freeze. Why the fuck does he get to be so beautiful?! He’s not even a girl! 

I felt myself go red. I hate that. I thought I was pretty, but next to him I look like a hobo! Slamming my helmet onto my head in annoyance I climbed onto my bike and rode away as fast as I could without crashing my bike or slipping on the ice.

I felt tears fill my eyes, from the wind or from the frustration I couldn’t tell.

Once I reached my house, I stored my bike back in its place in the garage and I quickly stormed into the house, I knew from the look on Ben’s face that he wanted to ask me something but he could tell I was angry and he was a bit apprehensive to ask.

I just ignored him and ran up the stairs to my room. I hate my life already! Almost 16 years old and I can’t stand living in this world… plopped onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. I must have laid there with my face smushed into its squishy surface for 15 minutes at least before I looked up and stared at my headboard covered with my favorite stickers from my childhood. I looked at Princess Aurora and Ariel with a contemplative expression on my face. I just need to figure out how to keep Edward fucking Cullen from reading my thoughts, that’s all. Easy. I think…

Sitting up, I decided the best course of action was to do my homework first and worry about this later, Grabbing my bag from where I dropped it at the foot of my bed. Pulling out my textbooks and homework pages, I was quick to get to work.

~~~

I must have been working for an hour before a tentative knock pulled from my concentration. My door creaked open slowly and Max`’s small face peeked in.

“Can you help me with my homework Jessie?” He asked softly, almost meekly. I gave him a smile and patted my bed next to me. His face broke into a wide grin as he ran into my room with his book and at least six pages in his hands. It looked like one page for each subject.

I smiled a bit nervously. It didn’t look like he did his homework at all in the time he had been home from school. If anything, I’d bet he spent the entire time watching TV. 

“What don’t you understand buddy?” I asked, taking the first sheet he handed me, it was math. 

“We’re doing multiplemcations… I don’t understand it at all.~” He whined.

“It’s ‘Multiplications’, and what don’t you understand?” I corrected him, before looking down at the first problem. 

6 x 2 = __. 

Huh, that’s easy. “Look at this one,” I held the paper out so he could see it. He frowned as he stared at it. He was only in the third grade and always took some extra time to catch up with his classmates, he just needs to see things in a new angle. I shook my head, not the topic to be focusing on.

“I don’t know….” He mumbled, looking down at his jean clad lap.

“Well… look at this way, what’s 6 + 6” I asked, setting the paper down to get some scrap paper. 

He frowned even deeper as his brow creased, his thinking face firmly in place. “Um…. 12…. Right?” He took long pauses as he figured out the answer.

“There you go, if you can’t figure out the answer, try to count in groups, like see this problem?” I pointed to the next problem 5 x 3 = __ “If you can’t figure it out, try doing it this way.” I took the scrap paper and filled out another problem 5 + 5 + 5 = _ I handed it to him. 

“Okay.” He nodded slowly taking the paper in his small hands. 

“Remember the times table in your folder.” I patted his head before going back to my own homework. We worked quietly for about 10 minutes before he was able to finish his math homework. We worked like that with all of his subjects but he was able to write down most of the solar system without my help, except for spelling Uranus… and having to be corrected on pronouncing it.

I noticed the time about an hour later, it was 6:30, a bit passed dinner time. Mom and dad weren’t home yet, but I did get a text on my little flip phone from my dad that they were running a bit behind schedule so they weren’t going to be home until late.

Climbing over Max to get off my bed, I stretched before looking at my brother who was dozing. I’ll wake him up once I finish making dinner, I think some simple mac n’ cheese with hotdogs or tuna sounds pretty good right about now. 

After making my way down to the kitchen, I quickly grabbed the box of mac n’ cheese and once discovering we had no hotdogs, I grabbed a can of tuna. Putting a pot of water on the stove to start boiling I went about grabbing other ingredients and seasonings to mix in. 

I heard my brother coming down the stairs just as I switched on the radio. Old Time Rock and roll by Bob Segar started blasting from the speakers, causing me to laugh. I picked up the spoon I was planning on using to mix everything.

I used it as a microphone as my brother and I danced around the kitchen in our socks, slipping and sliding like we were ice skating. Maximus had grabbed a frying pan and proceeded to use it as a guitar.

I leaned down to his height so he could use the ‘microphone’ to sing the final words with me. “With that old time rock and roll!” He collapsed to the floor from laughing too hard and I finally got the food all mixed and prepared after cooking the noodles. I have no idea when I put them in but they were cooked. I served us both a bowl and set them at the table. 

“So, how was school?” I asked, spooning a mouthful of the ooey gooey cheesy goodness into my mouth as I waited for him to respond.

“It was good, Jackson and I played superheroes at recess!” he said excitedly. Jackson was his best friend.

“And what superhero were you?” I asked, although I knew the answer. 

“Captain America of course!” He grinned excitedly. Practically bouncing in his seat from the excitement. “Jackson was superman today, he was batman last time.” 

I grinned a bit. “That’s good, do you like your new teacher? I know that Ms. Jenson had to take maternity leave.”

He gave me a slightly confused look before nodding. “Mr. Robison is pretty cool, he makes history interesting.” He grinned widely.

“Well, that’s good at least.” I smiled. “I remember when you would get in trouble for falling asleep during that lesson.”

Max grumbled. “It’s not my fault it’s so boring!” He frowned up at me as he began to shovel his food down his throat as though he were inhaling it rather than simply chewing it.

“Slow down or you’re gonna choke!” I scolded him. He finished rather quickly. 

“I’m gonna go brush my teeth and go to bed.” He said quickly before putting his bowl in the sink and running up the stairs.

I shook my head. “He’s going to give himself a stomach ache.” I muttered, finishing up my dinner in silence before putting away leftovers and washing the dishes. After I went upstairs, I checked on Maximus and snorted slightly. His shirt was on backwards and his pants were inside out as he was climbing into bed. I shrugged my shoulders before going to take a shower and brush my teeth. 

Once I was dressed in my pjs I checked on Maximus once more, only to see that he was fast asleep. Shrugging, I turned off the hallway light and went to my room. I saw he had picked up his homework already, I decided to quickly finish my book report before going to bed after seeing that it was only 9pm. Once that was done, I crawled into bed and turned off my bedside lamp. Tomorrow is a new day.

Chapter one END


	2. Chapter 2

The day that the world turned upside down started like any other, my 11 year old brother had woken me up in his usual way, by pounding on my door and screaming at me to wake up. I felt like my stomach was trying to squeeze itself out through my belly button it was all twisted and uncomfortable. I sat up, all bleary eyed because I could barely sleep last night after hearing that THE Isabella Swan was starting her first day of school with us today.

Once I was dressed in a long sleeve tan shirt and a pair of loose jeans, I went downstairs in my baby blue socks and sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal. I don’t want to go to school.

~~~

I honestly don’t even remember getting to school, but I sat in the seat of my purple 2004 taurus. I was surprised when my parents handed me the keys after I got my license on my 17th birthday. I was so happy to find out they had it painted purple. Like you have no idea. I smiled at the memory. I caught eyes with Edward Cullen and felt a smirk form on my face while his own face turned into one of deep despair.

‘Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows~ Pink fluffy unicorns dancing on- dancing on- rain!’ And that was it. Edward cringed heavily as the song blared loudly in my thoughts on an endless loop of cutesy pink fluffiness with the shiniest of rainbows. Just for added measure I threw in the cute musical instruments that play with it. His hands twitched like he wanted to cover his ears even though it would do absolutely nothing.

When October rolls around I’m thinking Spooky Scary Skeletons next.

I have been doing this for the better half of the year after I got tired of his staring into my soul like I was the ultimate prize in an intense game of Uno. Probably trying to figure out why I’m not attracted to him even though I constantly think about his looks. Like damn, yeah he is pretty but he is that level of manga/anime character pretty where in real life it just looks weird.

You have no idea how much I want to just dump an entire bucket of glitter all over him and watch him struggle with the fact that it would not come off. Let him sparkle for a week because that shit, even without glue, would stick to your skin no matter how many showers you take. I shuddered, remembering the time someone did that to me… I’m still finding glitter in places glitter should not be and that was over 3 months ago!

I shook my head. Enough thinking about pretty boy! Let’s get to class before Bella shows up… I think I share a class with her, English maybe?

I knew I was too late when I heard the monstrous roar coming from an old rusty orange truck pulling into the school parking lot. “Oh no…” I groaned. I could already imagine all the pain as I just realised… We have gym together…. IF the stories are true, she is one major clutz. I hit my forehead onto my steering wheel. Just kill me now and get all this pain and torture over with.

I continued to mope when I heard a soft knock on my car window, looking over I saw Angela giving me a concerned expression. I smiled and shut my car off, before grabbing my bag, and climbing out. Once I locked the doors, I shoved the keys into my bag before hefting it onto my shoulder. “Let’s get to class before Eric pulls us into the Isabella Swan mess.” I grumbled, dragging her behind me.

Angela tried to protest, but honestly I would like to hold off meeting Isabella for as long as possible. I just wasn’t in the mood to meet new people or to be thrown into the plot line just yet.

I spent the first class period chewing my bottom lip anxiously. I had Trigonometry next, and if I remember correctly, I share that class with none other than Bella Swan. I know I have 3 class periods with her, Trigonometry, Spanish and Gym. I shuddered. Not looking forward to any of it… I also had Trigonometry with Mike too. He’s cute, but not my type… Too full of himself. I smirked to myself at that thought. Takes one to know one I guess, I know I can be pretty full of myself too. The bell rang, signaling the end of class. I cringed, oh well let’s get this over with.

~~~~

I held the disposable ice pack to my cheek as I walked to my car after school let out, I felt irritation well up as Bella followed behind me, apologizing profusely over and over again.

“Bella, I already said it was okay, please stop apologizing.” I turned to her, shoulders squared in annoyance.

“But, that ball hit you really hard.” Her eyes drifted to the quickly forming bruise on my cheek.

“If you really feel bad about it.” I said, having already thought this over. “You can come to my house for dinner.” I winced a bit, I knew I wanted to avoid the plot, but it's already too late.

She chewed her bottom lip in thought as her brown eyes stared just over my shoulder at the treeline. After a few minutes of silence she nodded slowly. “Let me just call my dad and let him know...:” She mumbled, pulling out her phone.

I nodded and turned to my car. “I’ll wait, just let me know what he says and I’ll show you the way to my house.” I said without looking at her as I walked to my car.

After sitting in the driverseat for a few minutes while I waited, Bella came and knocked on the window. I rolled it down and looked up at her.

“He said it was okay, since he is going to be working late tonight...“ she trailed off as she stood there nervously fiddling with the hem of her jacket.

“Alright, my brother should be home by now, so get in your truck and get ready to follow me.” I rolled my window up after she nodded.

It wasn’t even a fifteen minute drive later that we pulled into my driveway. I got out after turning off the engine and grabbing my bag. I locked my car and led Bella into my house, leading her straight to the living room where Max was watching his evening cartoons.

“Did you finish your homework?” I asked with a raised brow, causing him to pout.

“Come on Jess, just a few more minutes…” He whined, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

I snorted, “Max, that trick didn’t work when you were 8, it’s not gonna work now,” I said seriously as I pointed at him. “Bella can help you with your English this time, I heard she was pretty good.”

Bella’s face went bright red at being put in the spotlight, she tried to hide in her long hair but Max wasn’t having any of that.

“He has trouble with grammar and spelling.” I called over my shoulder as I went into the kitchen to prepare dinner, I was thinking spaghetti this time.

About half an hour later just as I was finishing up dinner I heard Max laughing hysterically.

I stepped into the entryway of the living room and snorted. Bella was hiding behind her book, shoulders shaking with laughter, although no sound actually came from her.

“Dinner is ready.” I smiled, it was 5:00 pm, which was our normal dinner time.

The three of us sat down at the dinner table and quietly ate. This was so awkward… I looked over at Max who was slowly eating his food with an expression as though he were attempting to keep his laughter at bay. I then looked at Bella who seemed to be picking at her food.

“So… How are you liking Forks?” I asked, anything to end the uncomfortable silence.

“Um.. It’s alright… It’s wetter than I like…” She had so many pauses in her reply I was half expecting her to stutter.

I nearly choked on my next bite of food as my dirty mind took that to a whole new level. “Nothing like Arizona, right?” I said, a bit raspy after I caught my breath and chugged half a glass of water.

She nodded slowly, chewing even slower.

“So, let’s talk about how pale you are if you grew up in Arizona.” I smirked, she had an expression like she knew that was coming.

“I spent a lot of time inside?” she tried, even though I knew that was probably not true.

“Uh-huh.” I nodded, taking a drink from my glass of water, watching my brother over the lip of the glass as he noisily slurped his noodles.

~~~

I said goodbye to Bella shortly after dinner. She waved as she pulled out of my driveway and drove away. I shut and locked the front door, cracking my knuckles and my neck. Time to get to my homework!

I knew my parents were going to be home around 10 pm, well past Max’s bedtime by two hours. He hasn’t been able to see them lately with work and all, my guess is they’re trying to get enough money to get him that christmas present he really wanted last year. It was super expensive too so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the only gift he got this year. I think it was a motorized Dirt Bike… I can’t be sure, maybe I’ll ask him later. I pulled my bag to the kitchen table, deciding to do my homework here instead of in my room. It was only February, just shy of 6 days till my 18th birthday. I was a Valentine’s baby. Wonderful, right?

I snorted and shook my head at how I’m basically talking to myself in my head at this point. I started first on my Trigonometry homework, the trickiest of the bunch but luckily the brain of mine understands it better than I did in my last life, or rather, my dreamself.

It was around midnight by the time I finished my homework and my parents walked in through the front door. I caught eyes with my mother as I was heading up the stairs and she looked drained. Her usually bright blue eyes had dark bags under them andher brown hair was a mess, falling out her her bun and into her face.

I chewed my bottom lip nervously as I turned to look at my dad, his own curly dark brown hair was also a mess as he took off his hat; his usually bright green eyes were dim with exhaustion. His face was pale, making his freckles stand out more.

I noticed quickly after I woke up at the tender age of 12 that Max looks exactly like our dad, from the freckles to the hair and even the eye color. I shook my head. “Good night mom, dad.” They looked up, shocked as if they didn’t know I was standing there.

I knew they had to be at work at 6 am and they don’t sleep much anymore. The least I can do for them is lighten the load that is burdening their shoulders “You should take a day off from work.” I said softly. “I’ll get a part-time job, if it will help, please don’t overwork yourselves.” I went over and kissed them both on the cheek before running up the stairs to my room to avoid any further conversation. I dropped my bag off and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

Closing my bedroom door behind me, I changed into my comfy, fuzzy purple pajamas and turned off the light. I began my nightly ritual of crawling into bed, snuggling under my warm covers. I had seven hours to sleep before I had to be up and make breakfast and get my brother to school before 8 so I can make it to school on time at 8:30. I almost immediately fell asleep. 

At least I had one thing to look forward to. Tomorrow my music club is getting together at lunch time to play music. I felt a surge of excitement go through me, making me grin widely before darkness took over. I can’t wait.

What I could wait for is stupid sparkle people invading my dreams and being perfect and sparkly and fast and- damnit, Cullens, get out of my dreams!

~~~

I looked in the rearview mirror at my brother in the backseat. He was looking at my guitar case, maroon color and covered in band stickers. He looked a little confused and would give me the occasional glance every minute or so.

“I have a club meeting at lunch,” I explained to him with a little chuckle in my tone. He just nodded. I guess he was confused because I haven’t played in a while. I shrugged, pulling into his school parking lot. “Have a good day Little Bro.” I waved at him as he shut the door to my car, still grinning widely. He rolled his eyes at me but waved back. Almost 12 years old and he has a worse attitude then I did at his age. I snorted and pulled out of the parking lot once he was out of sight. I mean yeah, he is usually very sweet but lately he has been throwing that eye roll around. I drove in near silence to my school, tapping the steering wheel, humming a song I listened to often in my dream life. It’s a bit weird, but eh, it was catchy.

Pulling into the school parking lot, I grinned and reached back, pulling my guitar case out of the backseat, patting it joyfully, I was half an hour early, might as well play for a bit, I got out of my car and sat on the bench across from my car. I pulled my glossy dark purple guitar out of its case. I strummed the strings a bit, tuning a few of them to perfection, aimlessly strumming as I tried to think of a song to play.

~~~

It was lunch time, I sat with my friends with our instruments in our laps as we talked about what song to play first. We had sat debating for almost 10 minutes when I was struck with an idea. 

“What about Jamie O’Neal’s Somebody’s Hero? It came out recently but I’ve been listening to it so often I memorized it.” I said excitedly. Since no one else had an idea they all just nodded and pulled out their instruments.

I started strumming on my guitar as a natural southern accent slipped from my lips as I began to sing. This song reminded me of my other life, of my young son who I left behind, but it also reminded me of my little brother in this life, who looked up to me in such a way it made me feel important. It reminded me of my mother in this life as well, how she is doing so much for her two children.

~~~

I waved goodbye to my friends as we separated for class. I turned around and bumped into something hard and cold. I froze and slowly looked up.

‘OH COME ON!’

Edward was looking down at me with surprisingly bright eyes.

“You have a nice voice.” He commented, causing me to gag and roll my eyes.

“I wasn’t looking for compliments Cullen.” I scoffed, stepping away from him and crossing my arms across my chest and frowned up at him. How the hell is he so much taller than me? I’m 5’1” here, and he doesn’t stand taller than 5’9” but he is towering over me.

A glint of amusement shown in his eyes which caused annoyance to shoot through me. Honestly if he was a normal human and not some abnormal pretty boy, I would have loved to be friends with him and talk music with him but he isn’t… well… what I see as “normal” and I want nothing to do with him.

“I have class,” I slithered passed him like a snake as quickly as I could and grabbed my backpack from the table where I almost left it, and quickly went on to my next class. I felt shudders wrack my body as I sat down at my desk. It just… made me uncomfortable to get compliments from him, almost enough to vomit on the spot. It feels as if he wants something from me.

“Are you okay Jessica?” Angela looked at me from her desk behind me.

“OH yeah, I’m great, finished my club meeting, got a compliment from THE Edward Cullen, now I’m trying to fight nausea from that interaction. Seriously! I feel like I’m going to puke, Angela help me, this isn’t funny, stop laughing!” I said a little too dramatic, getting funny looks from everyone in class and an annoyed look from the teacher.

Angela was giggling quietly behind me as I shoved my face into the textbook.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you had a crush on Edward.” I heard her whisper behind me, causing me to tense up and let out an obnoxiously loud squeak.

‘No way! I can not like that grossly cold abnormal man boy like that!!’ I screamed internally, I could feel my face going even redder than it was before. I don’t like him, nope nope nope nope! Not even a little bit.


	3. Chapter 3

Birthdays were supposed to be fun, a time for partying and celebrating the fact that I’m getting one year closer to becoming an adult… but instead, I’m lying on my bed contemplating my conversation with Angela earlier this week. Her words getting increasingly persistent, hammering into my brain and refusing to leave. I do not like him. I do NOT like him!

A knock on my door caused me to spring up into a sitting position. “I DO NOT LIKE HIM!” I screamed out, paling when my brother jumped at the sheer volume of my voice and he remained perfectly still. His hand raised barely hovering beside the wood of my door frame.

“Ooookaaayy, sis is crazy tonight. Noted.” He backed up, giving me that same look he would give Chuck E. Cheese, and quickly left.

I rolled my eyes and returned to the sulking position. “I don’t like him, it’s ridiculous, I hate his existence,” I growled to myself. Man, this is irritating. I paused in my pacing when I heard someone knocking on the front door. It was only a few seconds later that I heard someone open it.

“Jessica! You’re friend is here to see you!” I rolled my eyes, I swear to god if it's him I’m jumping out this window.

I slowly climbed down the stairs and recognized my surprise guest immediately.

“Hey Bella, it’s been what, a week?” I smirked as I leaned on the wall.

“I was just stopping by to ask if you wanted to hang out…” Bella said, almost nervously.

I nodded slowly, “Alright, what do you have planned?” I asked, raising a brow at her as I made my way to the front door to slip on my shoes.

“I was thinking of going to the movies.” She replied, following me. 

“Which movie?” We talked as we walked out the door, waving goodbye to my mom who just smiled and shook her head. It was at this moment that I realized one of my favorite movies came out this year. “OOoh! Hitch just came out in theaters, I have been wanting to see this movie since I heard it was coming out! Lets watch it!” I started getting really excited for it.

She frowned a bit before nodding. “Alright,” she said as she got into the cab of her truck. I got into the driver's seat of my own Taurus. 

~~~

It was just after the movie, Bella and I were taking a walk around the old children park just down the street, laughing at how ridiculous the plot itself was.

“How can you be a dating doctor and have zero capability in landing a date?” I snorted rather loudly as I laughed. 

Bella let out a laugh of her own. “I know, that was a surprisingly good movie though.” she smiled nervously, looking up at the sky. “I should be going home, it’s getting late and Charlie will worry.”

“Why do you call him that?” I stood up with her.

“Who?” she gave me a look of confusion as I sighed deeply. 

“Your dad, you call him by his first name, why?”

She stopped walking for a moment. “I don’t really know, I’ve always done it,” she shrugged as she continued to walk.

I didn’t push the subject, I can only imagine how much that must hurt the poor man knowing how his daughter calls him, even if its not to his face. “I had fun tonight, we should definitely make this a weekly thing,” I grinned at her. “Best birthday yet.”

She gave me this surprised look. “I didn’t know it was your birthday.” She said softly, a blush spreading across her face like a wildfire.

I laughed. “Its okay, count this as a gift and we’re even.” 

~~~

It was March 7th, a Monday, I sat outside of the school in my car, looking up at the sky, the sun was shining brightly and it always surprised me when this happened, since it was almost always cloudy here. I also knew the Cullens weren’t going to be here, due to the shiny sky. 

I couldn’t stop the disappointment from filling my chest. I growled to myself, I don’t like him why does my heart keep insisting that I do?! God this is so annoying. I slammed my forehead on my steering wheel. 

“I hate myself right now.” It doesn’t help that I found him attractive in my past life, when I saw the movies. I was 15, obsessed with vampires and glitter, sue me. I rolled my eyes at my dramatics, thankful for the relief where I can think whatever I want without having to worry about a supernatural eavesdropper. 

Edward’s stupid mind reading ability is just plain weird. Like, how does he not have constant migraines from reading literally everyone’s thoughts, whether he wants to or not he can hear anyone and everyone. It’s just sad in my opinion, I would kill myself if I had that stupid ability.

(Just timeskip)

Tuesday was just as sunny as Monday while Wednesday was back to the usual cloudy days that seemed to visit Washington for longer than wanted. My mind was still stuck on the accident that happened the other day, it almost resulted in Bella being crushed to death by dumbass Tyler Crowely’s big ass van. Idiot shouldn’t have a license if he can’t keep his car maintenanced.

I tried distracting myself about it yesterday but that only resulted in me thinking about it all day today. Edward was back at school, and he has been completely avoiding Bella, who was acting quite strange. She looked like she had a lot on her mind, always zoning out or looking over her shoulder. If I remember correctly in the timeline, Edward saved Bella last night from being raped or something by a group of drunk guys.

I sat next to her at lunch and she couldn’t take her eyes off of Edward, which for some reason irked me. Intrusive thoughts began to swirl in my head, why does all the attention go to- NOPE! I don’t like him and I am not jealous of my friend! 

I caught eyes with Edward in that moment and felt my face immediately go red, the heat dancing across my cheeks like a gasoline explosion over driftwood. ‘I hate you Edward Cullen. Stupid jerk with your stupid hair and stupid smirk and your stupid perfectly sculped cheekbones. I wanna smash your perfect face in and see if I can make a Picasso out of it.’ I growled in my mind, hoping he heard me loud and clear... for the first part. 

His expression shifted from amusing disbelief to just straight up amusement, like he could summon popcorn at any minute- nevermind now he looks confused.. I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away from him, frowning deeply. I know Bella has developed feelings for the weirdo, I can tell by her starstruck expression and her twentieth mouth breath that I think is supposed to be a sigh. 

For some god-awful reason my mind went straight to my past life, pushing an intense pang of pain into my heart and I felt tears well up in my eyes. I hate this life. I want my old life back. I want my boyfriend and my baby boy and my friends. I’ll never get that life back, I’m stuck here and forced to grow up all over again where every day I risk redoing old mistakes. I gripped my shirt over my stomach tightly, trying very hard to keep the tears at bay and not make my emotions obvious. I fucking hate being a hormonal teenager, even if I am only 18.

I shook my head quickly, fixing my hair and rubbing my hands down my face to get rid of all emotional and physical evidence while pretending to just be tired. 

I took a swig of my lunch’s milk and tried to bring my thoughts back to normal. Okay, I have homework to do for English when I get home and possibly start thinking about senior classes. I can make it through the day if Bella would stop sighing next to me. It… was kind of weird though. I could have sworn those two were going to be a couple soon and she would reveal her big pile of knowledge on him while acting like she’s not scared of- Wait… what am I thinking about?

Shit… shit shit shit. Stop thinking, shut down all thoughts now- but why aren't they talking- STOP THINKING ABOUT IT JESSICA! Shut it all down NOW!

I didn’t look at Edward as Bella and the others remind me that it’s time to go back to class as the bell began to ring. I felt eyes staring at me but I kept my eyes away and stuck close to Bella, talking about hairstyles and what colored nails I’m going to have for prom -purple of course, a light lavender color- and blah blah blah. I talked about anything to distract me from the now. A part of me wants to tell them that I knew everything and why but I’ve kept this secret for so long that I’m not about to risk sounding crazy just for them.

I quickly made my way to my next class, continuously ignoring the glare I was receiving. It sent chills down my spine as I hugged my books close to my chest, trying to focus on the hallway ahead and not the foreboding sense of dread I am suddenly feeling. As soon as I sat down I knew I was going to regret coming to school today, even though it’s the second to last class, I still had gym with Bella next.

~~~

It had been a few weeks since my inner monologue of hatred towards Cullen, and honestly I have no idea where anything is even headed anymore. As far as I can tell, the story is completely off the rails. Bella and Edward still aren’t together and it’s confusing to say the least as Bella always looks at him when she gets the chance. None of the important parts have happened to the best of my knowledge. The crazy trio never came to town, I think anyway. Bella mentioned that her dad was investigating some mysterious deaths in the area but, as far as I heard, nothing came from it and the news hasn’t said anything.

I sat against the tree just outside of a park I frequented as a kid. It was secluded now with no one maintaining it anymore, the trees surrounding it were a lot bigger now than they were five years ago. I looked down at my notebook, song lyrics were written across the page in my excuse for chicken scratch handwriting. I frowned down at it, the lyrics sucked, they were sappy and gross and I can’t believe I wrote this. Aw man this sucks, I can’t think of a good song to write and every time I try that one stupid song from my past life keeps popping up. While its catchy and I absolutely love it I can’t write it, it would basically be copyright infringement. Even if the song hasn’t been written yet.

A twig snapped and I jumped, hands clutching the notebook so hard I can feel it beginning to tear. I turned around so quickly I almost gave myself whiplash just so I could look at the noise. There, standing in the shade of a tree not too far away, stood the bane of my existence.

“What are you doing here, Cullen?” I asked, furrowing my brow in confusion. I was the only one to continue visiting this forgotten playground. How the heck did he even find this place, let alone me?

“I was out for a walk when I saw you, and I thought I would come and keep you company.” The way he said it, it sounded completely off to be coming out of his mouth. Any sincerity he might have didn’t reach his eyes.

“Yeah, sure, how do I know you’re not stalking me?” I stared him down, trying to release the tight grip I had on my notebook.

He raised a brow at me, coming to my side to take a seat next to me, which caused me to tense up. I could smell him. I know its weird but he had this intense earthy scent to him, something that I didn’t even know he could produce. I shuddered as I brought my notebook close to my chest and I glared at him. He had a glint of amusement in his eyes which only served to piss me off even more than I already was since he disrupted my peace and quiet. 

“Why would I stalk you?” he shot back at me, his expression made me believe that he thought his comeback was clever.

“Probably because your siblings get tired of your cheek bones and I say more than five words a week to you. Now leave me alone.” I said in return, going back to trying to write my song. I had inspiration... but absolutely zero idea on how to put said inspiration into words. I grit my teeth as I felt those stupid yellow eyes boring into my soul and no doubt my mind.

“I can’t think with you sitting so close!” I turned to glare at him, he was leaning over my shoulder to peek at my notebook like some nosy teenage boy. I could feel his breath on my ear and the cold coming off of him in waves. I hate to admit it, but for some reason I found it comforting. It was a particularly hot day and I was dressed in a t-shirt, shorts and my favorite strappy purple sandals. I hate being hot, but I hated being in my stuffy house even more, which is why I decided to come to the park. I blinked rapidly as I realized I had closed my eyes with my head leaning against the tree behind me as I unconsciously tried to sap as much cold from him as possible. I shook my head quickly and scooted away from him, only to be startled by a loud clap of thunder. Followed by a lot of ice raining from sky that should have been blue a minute ago. 

I could already feel the panic setting in as my entire body froze, I couldn’t even blink as I fought to get air into my lungs. I could feel Edward’s gaze on me but I couldn’t even turn to look at him. I could feel the fabric of my clothes against my skin, and the feeling of the grass prickling my bare legs. It made me want to remove all of my skin it was almost painful. The first breath I took ended in a broken sob, I could feel my whole body shuddering as I curled in on myself, tears streaming down my face as I tried to hide.

Edward shifted next to me, only a few seconds later for him to drape his cold jacket across my shoulders. It smelled heavily of him which caused me to relax only slightly, I still let out shuddering sobs as I hugged my knees. He never once moved from his spot next to me as we waited for the storm to pass, each clap made me wince and curl up tighter. 

I was exhausted only an hour of sitting there. I couldn’t even cry anymore. At some point I had leaned against Edward, eyes droopy from the emotional and physical drain the panic attack put me in. I hate that I become hyper aware of my surroundings instead drowning out my surroundings like everyone else does when they get put into a panic attack. I don’t know when, but as soon as the thunder quieted as the hail let up I was woken up by Edward. I don’t know when I fell asleep but when I looked up into his golden eyes, I realized I ended up using his lap as a pillow. I couldn’t even find the energy to be embarrassed. 

“Sorry.” I mumbled softly, sitting up and rubbing my face with my left hand as I clutched his jacket with my right hand. My hands shook slightly as I finally looked up at the sky. It was cloudy once more, which made the temperature drop quite a bit. 

I stood up, looking down at the ground, I hate myself right now. I can’t believe I let myself become vulnerable with a… I looked down at him, for some reason he was still sitting on the ground, staring up at me. Yeah, with that thing. I shook my head and handed his jacket back to him. “Thanks I guess.” I mumbled slightly, frowning some more as I started heading towards my car, hoping to god I don’t have any broken windows.


	4. Chapter 4

Ever since the storm, Edward has been awkwardly hanging around me, starting conversations that I want no part of. If he kept hanging around like this my secret will be let loose and I don’t want that. I would probably be killed due to my extensive knowledge on nearly everything and everyone I know and don’t know. Well… the Cullens may be less bloodthirsty about it, but the Volturi… yikes.

Currently, I was sitting at the public library on a cloudy Sunday afternoon with a book of European folklore in my lap and it was currently on the page of vampires. There was a sketched picture of what the author thought vampires looked like, A rather skinny and hairless creature with pointed ears and teeth, it’s skin was gray and the clothing it wore was old fashioned like a beast frozen in time. This was such a fake picture.

“What makes you think that it’s fake?” I heard a very familiar voice come from above my head. I tried to remain still as I looked up. Perhaps I said it out loud?

“Well for one, this book was written by a nutcase, and two there is no way vampires look like that.” I replied, closing the book in my lap. There were some other inaccuracies compared to other folklore, like this author believed that steel was actually helpful for fae folk.

Edward stared at me as he sat down in the chair next to me. “How do you know for sure?” he asked, his brow furrowed but his eyes screamed suspicion. I rolled my eyes at him.

“While I’ve never seen an actual vampire before, but I 100% doubt they look like that.” I snorted. “They’d want to blend in, otherwise humans would find out about them and kill them.”

“You… are one strange person.” he said slowly, squinting his eyes at me like he didn’t understand the way I am.

“Are you going to prom? It’s in a couple of weeks.” I said softly to change the subject, reopening the book in my lap and flipping through the pages, looking at pictures of faeries and werewolves. While many of these facts would be fought against anyone with even a remote knowledge of mythology, the artwork was rather pretty.

“Why?” he asked with that smirk on his face that told me he was getting ready to tease me. It's been a month since I started to actually talk to this guy and I’m starting to be able to see all of his ticks. Guy’s easier to read than a Dr. Seuss book. 

“Do you want to go with me?” he teased while I just gave him a blank look. I could see his facial muscles struggling to remain still after my mental comment.

“No Edweird, I don’t want to go to prom with you,” I replied, standing up and packing the book into my bag. I already checked it out so I will be using it for about 2 weeks, mostly for shits and giggles. It was honestly quite amusing with how people in the past thought mythical creatures looked.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” He asked, almost as though he was offended but I can see the amusement in his eyes.

“Because I can. If you didn’t like it, you’d stop me.” I said, shrugging. I swung my bag up onto my right shoulder, walking passed him while trying to keep a straight face. I hate that I had gotten so used to seeing him everyday and talking to him about literally anything that comes to mind. I suppose it doesn’t help that he practically knows what I’m thinking anyway. I snorted once again in amusement at my own thoughts. I quickly left the library with Edward’s eyes following me the entire way. 

I don’t know what his obsession is with me but honestly it was seriously annoying at first, but after two straight weeks I got used to it. By now though he skipped town and New Moon would have started up. I frowned, I don’t know why I remember that part so clearly. I mean, my senior year is starting in about 4 months, it currently being mid May.

I tossed my bag into the back seat of my car, climbing into the driverseat and stuck my key into the ignition. I sighed and let my hand fall into my lap, staring up at the roof of my car. I didn’t bother turning the key as I chewed my bottom lip in thought. I still couldn’t believe that I have gotten so used to Edward’s company. Just last week he started sitting at my lunch table with me when my friends were all busy. He only did this when I was sitting alone... but still, this was a whole new level. It’s almost as though he is actually trying to be my friend.

I decided it was best to just go home and finish that essay for English.

~~~

I was pulling up to my house when I saw them; The red and blue lights flashing. My heart hammered in my chest as I prayed and prayed to whatever was watching over me that it wasn’t at my house, that it was just something simple. That no one was hurt but at the very least not be at my house.

They were at my house. 

I jumped out of the car after turning it off and bolted for the door, some cops tried to stop me. 

“I live here, damnit! Move out of my way!” I yelled at the cops and a sheriff inside told them to move so I could enter. I practically shoved them out of the way -avoiding touching them- and got to my parents. Mom was sobbing, handing what looked like a photograph to a police officer then resuming adding to a large wet spot on my dad’s shirt.

“What happened?! What’s going on?” I asked, completely panicked as I grabbed my mom’s shoulders. I look at the photograph the officer was holding and my blood ran cold. Why was mom giving him the photo of Max and I in our Christmas sweaters?

“It’s Max, Jessica. He’s missing.” Her eyes were filled with tears as she leaned her head into my father’s shoulder. He had tears in his eyes too. I’ve never seen him cry before, not even when Max was born. My brother was only 11 years old. What the heck was he doing that caused him to go missing? My brain began to shut down and I felt numb.

“How…” I licked my lips, throat suddenly dry. I lean against the couch for support. “How is he missing?!”

“We don’t know sweetie. We came home and found footprints in the backyard and Max’s astrology book on the porch. You know he never leaves it alone.” Mom explained, hiccuping through her explanation. I look past her to see another officer taking photos of our backyard’s ground. 

I felt my knees buckle under my weight as I sat down on the floor. I gripped my shirt over my stomach, suddenly feeling heavily nauseous. I covered my face with my hands, too overwhelmed to even cry, but the motion brought some comfort to me.

I continued to sit there, unable to hear anything as I watched my parents talk to Charlie Swan, the chief of police. I could feel my body going numb to my surroundings, I felt dead inside. I felt lost. I don’t know how I’m even going to get through this.

~~~

It has been 6 weeks since Max disappeared, I sat at the lunch table with Angela who had taken to patting my back every time I got a blank look on my face and my shoulders drooped. I try to remain positive but I had heard that the police force is giving up. I might never seen Ben again.

I sighed deeply and shook my head, no. Max would literally kick me if he knew I was moping around because of his disappearance. I looked over and smiled at Angela. “How about we go shopping this weekend?” I offered, getting a surprised look from her.

“You’ve been in a dark mood since Max…. Yes, let’s go shopping.” She had started to say something, but I already knew what she was going to say before agreeing to go with me.

“Awesome, I’ll pick you up at 8 on Saturday.” I grinned at her, trying to put as much happy emotion into my expression as I can.

~~~

Saturday came faster than expected. I was sitting outside of Angela’s house at 7:50 am waiting for her so we can get our fun day of shopping going.

At 8:02 Angela walked out, her two little brothers were crying, they were both 10 years old, and Max’s best friends. Joshua and Isaac were their names. I pouted as I watched her walk. Damn, she’s got legs for days! She easily towers over my 5’1” figure at 6’1”.

She got in the car, huffing out her breath as though she had been running and rubbed her hands together. She looked over at me and immediately noticed my staring.

“What?” She asked, her face flushed from the cold and from her self consciousness. 

“You got legs for days girl.” I said, turning to look at the road as I turned on my engine once again. “It’s damn sexy, embrace it.”

“Jess!” she cried, smacking my arm which only made me laugh. We have a long 2 hour drive ahead of us, at least we get along. Helps our taste in music is also the same, so we’re scream-singing Fall Out Boy all the way to Port Angeles.

~~~

The first thing we did after getting to Port Angeles was to go to the mall they had there and immediately hit up the first store we saw which I dragged Angela to. 

Hot Topic. 

The most amazing store on the planet to ever exist. Also one of the most overpriced.

“Why are we going in here?” Angela asked, obviously feeling nervous as she looked at the wall which proudly displayed laced, corset dresses, funky colored pants and lots… and lots of skulls. This was a time before Hot Topic became filled to the brim with Funkos and Disney, this was a time where goth culture was its strongest.

“Because, we are about to discover one of the best styles in all of America. Well... one of three: Emo, Scene, and Goth but I prefer Emo.” I rambled a bit as I took her inside, immediately greeted by Three Day Grace and an employee that looked like he got a buy one get one deal at a tattoo parlor. The first thing I saw was a super cute plaid red and black dress with two inch shoulder straps and black lace on the outer sides of them. Black lace was also on the hem of the dress. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

“I have to buy that.” I stated immediately. Walking over and grabbing it off the hanger to try on sizes in a moment. I looked around for anything that could compliment it nicely, spotting a cute headband with a black rose on it I grabbed that as well. It went on like that until I had an entire outfit put together.

Angela watched in horror as I turned into a whirlwind and was constantly moving from one end of the shop to the other in matters of seconds. The employee was watching boredly, not once pestering us as he knew I was a guaranteed customer even if I looked like a purple Barbie.

I turned to look at her after purchasing my items. I’m so glad I decided to get that part-time job last month, even if it was to distract my mind. “Well, pick something out!” I laughed at her flustered expression as I tried to push her towards the clothes.

Angela was hesitant at first before deciding on some black skinny jeans and a red and black corset top to go with it. She didn’t grab anything else but that was fine, this was a start.

“Now that that is done, lets go to another shop!” I cheered, dragging her out of the store with our new bags in hand.

It went on like this for a couple of hours before we bumped into Edward Cullen of all people.

“What are you doing here, Cullen?” I asked, rubbing the pain away from my forehead after I once again bumped into his goddamn, perfectly chiseled chest. Does he have to have the skin density of a marble statue?

“Why do you insist on calling me by my last name?” He asked, holding up his bags that were filled with items that were obviously not for him, but picturing him in that sexy red lace lingerie set almost made me choke on my laugh. I coughed repeatedly. Note to self, do not try to inhale while exhaling to laugh at the same time.

He stood there with wide eyes, I just know he would be bright red if he could even blush.

“Because I don’t like you, nice underwear by the way.” I snorted at his expression, I knew he knew I was lying.

“I was shopping with my sisters and somehow lost them, to answer your question.” I wasn’t listening to his words as I saw a boy who looked too familiar to me. My heart leapt to my throat as I sped over to him, carefully weaving through racks of clothes only to stop when I saw their face. It wasn’t Max, it was just some kid with a button nose. I felt bile rise in my throat which caused me to run to the nearest bathroom and immediately empty the contents of my stomach, a broken sob wrecking through me in between coughs.

Edward’s POV

I stood outside the bathroom with Angela, waiting for Jessica to finishing vomiting. The smell of bile hit my nose and honestly it was disgusting, but I brushed it aside to wait for her. Jessica’s thoughts slammed into my brain like a freight train, like it does every time I’m near her.

‘It wasn’t Max, oh god. What do I do? I have to do something to save him! He’s been gone so long, he could be dead by now! I can’t ask the Cullen’s, they don’t know I know their secret, I can’t risk that, but god dammit, I know they could find him effortlessly if they put their minds to it!’ 

Her thoughts were almost provoking. I knew she knew our secret, for months now. We all have. We have just been watching her to make sure she doesn’t let it slip. She has shown no intention to, not even to us. If anything, she seemed to prefer to push the thoughts away just as anything she deemed important was about to bubble out of her mind.

I looked over at Angela who was nervously fiddling with a plastic piece from one of the bags. Jessica had unfortunately locked the main door on us... well, her.

Jessica cries rang for a solid ten minutes. Someone from security arrived on the scene to ask what was going on.

“Our friend had a breakdown. PTSD.” I lied smoothly to the concerned man, his mind free of malice and more concerned with the sobs he heard. “She’s not in any danger of hurting herself.”

“Any history of, uh… suicidal thoughts? Just to make sure I don’t need to alert the police.”

“N-no!” Angela stepped in, the girl easily towering both of us. “She’s never hurt herself before. Her brother has been missing for almost two months now and it’s hit her pretty hard…”

The security officer’s mind replayed news reports on the television and he nodded. He made a mental note to come back in five minutes if we haven’t left and alert paramedics. His thoughts only became stronger when Jessica lost another ounce through bile.

“I’ll be back,” I tell Angela then walk to a nearby shop to purchase a bottle of water. My phone beeps as a message from Alice came through.

‘I already texted Emmett, he’s on his way.’

Quick as ever.

I give Angela the bottle for when Jessica finally leaves the bathroom and knocks on the door. “Jessica? I have to go but I wanted you to know… everything will be okay.”

Her breath hitches, her mind isn’t coherent anymore. But I’m long gone before she has the chance to speak.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Here is chapter 5! Finally!!! Right? This has taken so long. But I finally finished enough to be satisfied. I hope you enjoy!!  
__________  
At 2 am, I was startled awake by loud banging on the front door, a frantic knocking like someone desperately trying to come inside. Sitting straight up in bed with my heart racing I shot out of bed. Coming into the hallway both my parents were already heading down the stairs with my mom tightly wrapping a bathrobe around her body. As soon as my father opened the door I knew immediately who it was.

His hair was a longer, matted mess, his shirt was torn and he had no shoes on. His clothes were filthy but he didn’t stink. He stared at us with eyes that had seen too much to truly shine innocently anymore, and he sniffed through a stuffy nose.

“Mommy?” Max’s voice broke, “Daddy? Jess?” His eyes filled with tears as he ran straight into my mother’s arms, she fell to her knees and hugged him close to her body as she sobbed into his shoulder.

My legs gave out from under me, my knees slamming into the hardwood floors painfully. The relief that flowed through me was so intense I almost passed out. My whole body relaxed as I leaned against the wall, suppressing a pained chuckle of sheer nerves.

Dad was next for a hug, that didn’t last as long as mom’s and I was the last to let go. He latched on so tightly I thought he would never let me go. But I didn’t care about that, I just held onto my baby brother.. I felt tears streaming down my cheeks as I sobbed into his shoulder loudly. I don’t know how long we sat there for, but when we finally separated Max was out cold in my arms. I didn’t want to let him go, so I carefully got up, keeping him on my hip and slowly made my way to my bedroom with him.

Our mother alerted the authorities still looking for him that he was now home. An officer showed up about fifteen minutes later, which wasn’t all that surprising since this is such a small town but it was surprising that he looked wide awake despite how early it was. My parents talked with him for a minute before leading him to my room where my parents woke him up so he could talk with him, get information on who kidnapped him and how he got away. I was told to step out.

I sat outside my bedroom door, listening to my brother tell an “Outlandish” story of a scary man who drank other kids blood until they died, only for them to come back to life a few days later, super pale with bright red eyes like the man’s. He said something about Edward and some people he didn’t know who came to save him and the three other boys who were still alive.

The officer took my parents down to the living room, saying something about “PTSD” or something like that, how he must be in shock and misinterpreted the events.

I looked at my brother, who sat on my bed, looking exhausted, his eyes were a dark forest green instead of their usual bright almost grass green. I stood up and went into the room, sitting on the bed, I wrapped him up in a hug. “I believe you Max, don’t worry.” I whispered.

“It sounds dumb doesn’t it, Jess?” He whispered. “It sounds made up, but I swear it happened!” He looked up at me with tear filled eyes. He was only 11, nearly 12 now, but he looked so lost and broken that it made him look so much younger. 

“I know Max, but don’t worry, I will always believe you.” I smiled at him, hugging him tighter.

His shoulders went lax as he clung to me, he started sobbing into my chest, his tears soaking my shirt rather quickly. I just sat still, rubbing his back as I looked out the window. I felt numb, it was a huge relief to know he was okay, but I didn’t know what I could do to help him at this point.

On Monday, Max stayed home with mom while I went to my first period with a little more pep in my step then I had in weeks. I actually smiled with I greeted Angela who was genuinely surprised when I came up to her with a tight hug. 

“Max is home!” I said happily, and her entire demeanor brightened as she hugged me excitedly.

“That’s great!!!” She said happily, grinning from ear to ear which caused me to laugh. She’s been my best friend since we were twelve and had a strong bond between our families, so it was only right for me to tell her first. We did that girly thing of doing a little squee while hopping in place in a circle to get the excitement running.

I spent the whole day just grinning away as I thought of spending time with my little brother for the first time since he came home. The Cullens were keeping their distant, but minus Rosalie -as usual- none of them gave me any weird looks the entire day. I know it's because of them that Max is home, I owe them more than I could ever offer in a single lifetime by bringing him home.

At lunch I sat with Angela and Bella, seeing as Eric was out sick today it was just us girls. We chatted about weekend plans, Angela had a whole weekend planned with her brothers and Bella's dad wanted her to go see Billy and Jacob Black out on the reservation. I couldn't help but frown as I nodded. Well, I guess I'm alone this weekend. 

My parents are taking Max out of town this weekend to visit family and to see a child psychologist and a few doctors for a physical or something like that. "Well you guys have fun and you better tell me how it goes, Bella!" I narrowed my eyes at her. I already knew Angela was going to tell me about her weekend anyway. "I'm probably just gonna go to the mall this weekend." I smiled. That's a lie. I'll probably just stay home and watch movies.

Warm pjs, some cocoa, wishing my parents would have Netflix but remind myself that nothing that good is on anyway so I’ll just binge Disney or something.

Bella nodded quickly in response, understanding that I'm completely serious. 

"I will! Don't worry." She added verbal confirmation.

"Good! I want to know how you and Jake get along after all these years of not hanging out." I smirked at her, wiggling my eye brows which caused her to blush.

"It’s not like that Jessica! We're just friends!" She yelled at me, well quietly, she's not good at being very loud.

"Uh-huh." I snorted. The bell rang not too long after, signaling the end of lunch. 

"Well see you guys tomorrow." It was only Monday after all. We have a whole week ahead of us.

~~~

It happened as I was walking to my car. 

One moment I’m fishing for my keys and the next Mr. AmberMoodyPants is hovering me, staring into my eyes intensely like he was considering pushing me off a cliff or giving me a hug. He only blinked once as the thought came through my mind.

"Are you free this weekend?" His question stunned me into completely silence.

"Um." I mumbled, tucking my arms close to my body. "Yeah… Why?"

"Good, because I have a reservation at a restaurant that I don't want to go to waste, and Alice backed out at the last second. Do you want to come?" He kept staring at me and seemed to forget that humans are supposed to blink. "I don't want to lose it and I have some important things I need to talk to you about."

I knew he wouldn't take no for an answer so I agreed. He got this triumphant look on his face, it was subtle but I could tell it was there. Honestly I was terrified, I don’t know what he wants to talk about, but it can’t be anything good for me. All I can hope is that it’s public enough to where I’m not gonna end up dead in a river somewhere.

For the rest of that week I completely stressed about this weekend to the point where I forgot three homework assignments, more than my average. Angela noticed instantly and she tried to get me to talk about it, but I refused. It wasn’t until after school on Friday that she cornered me and forced me to talk.

“Edward asked me to dinner…” I mumbled and fidgeted with a bracelet on my wrist. Angela’s mouth dropped open.

“He asked you out on a date?!” She cried, completely stunned as she continued to stare with wide brown eyes.

“No! He just said he wanted to talk about something important and I don’t know what…” I replied, looking down, tugging at my brown hair nervously.

“He wants to confess!” She squealed which caused me to roll my eyes and finally cross my arms. I’ll need to remember to thank her later for killing the stress flowing through me.

“No… I don’t think it’s that. We’re meeting tomorrow…” I felt a chill run down my spine as I turned and caught eyes with said copper haired man-boy.

“What else could it possibly be if not a confession?” She raised a brow at me, which caused me to roll my eyes again.

“I’m pretty sure he hates me, and I told you, I have no idea what it could be, but I’m 100% positive that it’s not a love confession.” I said seriously, crossing my arms across my chest.

“Whatever you say.” she snorted at me, believing that I’m completely in denial about the whole thing.

~~~

Saturday came faster than I wanted it to. I sat nervously on my couch, 20 minutes before the designated pick up time. My parents left early this morning with Max, leaving me completely alone and vulnerable to my emotions with no amount of staring into nothingness was going to fix that. I made sure to dress nice, but modest. Instead of dressing like I’m running for the best plum in the county fair, I dressed in a soft grey cashmere sweater, some black slacks that I had worn to a wedding last year and modest heels. The only signs of purple on my body was a purple hair tie which kept my hair up in a bun so my hair didn’t touch food and a purple crystal hairpin which was stabbed into my bun. 

10 minutes before pick up time there was a knock on the door. When I opened it to find Edward was standing there, dressed in a nice light gray suit with a blue tie. It clashed rather strongly with his pale skin and copper hair. 

“Let’s go.” He smiled at me, probably trying to ease my nerves but it just made it worse. I felt fear shiver up my spine as he lead me to his car. He opened the door for me like a gentleman and I was quick to sit down in his cold ass car.

Honestly, I was happy with the temperature. I hated the heat more than anything and it was pretty nice out today despite it being late winter. Moments like these make me praise my mother for helping me find nice padded bras. It pinched a bit but at least it hid pointy nips.

We rode in silence to the restaurant that he had been talking about. It was about a 10 minute drive and I’ve never felt more awkward in my entire life. To an outsider, Edward looks like he’s either a really focused driver or a serial killer- why is he smiling? 

When we got there, he told his name and we were led to the table of his choice.

“I was told that this area is pretty secluded,” Edward said while sitting down in the chair across from me. “Besides our waiter, no one should be able to listen in on our conversation.”

“Totally not creepy, Cullen.” I sit down, crossing one leg over the other and nodding politely to the waiter as we are immediately given iced water. “Why did you bring me here?”

“Can’t I treat a friend to a good meal to celebrate your brother’s return?” He rested his arms on the table in front of his chest, like a barrier between the two of us.

“Hm…” I took a sip of my water and nearly had a spit take, swallowing through what could have been an embarrassing moment. “I didn’t tell you my brother was back.”

The corner of Edward’s lip twitched. “I know.” He leans forward, a calm expression on serious eyes. “It’s time we drop the charades, don’t you think, Jessica? How did you learn the truth about us?”


	6. Chapter 6

I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at him wide eyed. “Y-you wouldn’t believe me if I told you…” I said softly, looking down at my hands as I started fiddling with the napkin wrapped around my silverware.

“Jessica.” His voice was stern, causing me to look up slightly. “Try me.” he was serious, there was no glint of amusement or even a smirk.

I chewed my bottom lip anxiously, this was a habit I picked up from Bella and I hated it. Makes my lips chapped afterwards. I avoided eye contact for a while as he waited patiently for me to explain. But how do you explain to someone that you read about them in a book that doesn’t exist?!

“A book?” he raised an eyebrow at me, causing me to feel all the blood drain from my face.

The waiter brought us both glasses of ice water, and I immediately took the opportunity to chug my glass. I tried to figure out how to word everything into something he could understand.

Once I felt myself calming down I set my glass back on the table and looked him in the eye. 

“This is going to be a long story.” I said seriously, crossing my fingers on the tabletop.

He smirked, “I have all the time in the world.” I knew he was saying that ironically.

“Let’s start with the first time I woke up in this body at 12 years old.” I started, before going into the story. I didn’t give away too many details, trying to keep certain things secret like my knowledge of the future that he has no right of knowing at all. Once I was done talking he stared at me, he had no disbelief in his eyes at all, like he believed every word I said. I didn’t go into personal details either, I could feel myself wanting to shrink away as my story started coming to an end.

Edward nodded slowly in response, “That’s all I wanted to know.” he said seriously.

We were brought food, I got some alfredo cheese ravioli, my favorite. I started eating as we sat in near silence.

“So… Are your opinions of me based off of what you know from the… Books?” he asked, genuine curiosity in his eyes.

“Nope, you irritated me from the beginning, no one should legally be allowed to be that pretty.” I said seriously after swallowing a mouthful of food. “I used to have a friend who would have a few not so nice things to say to you because of the books. God, if she was here... trying to get her to like you would be like convincing an elephant it can fit in a hamster ball.”

Edward just nodded in response, staring into my eyes as though he were searching for more information. “What about the vampire Army?” he asked, I immediately noticed some staff members and the closest people sitting at their own tables staring openly at us.

Edward stood up and looked over at me. “Let’s continue this conversation in the car. I’m curious about this book you want to publish,” He said in a normal tone which quickly defused the weird looks we were getting. I nodded slowly as I also stood up and followed him out after he paid the bill. 

We sat inside his still freezing car, as I stared at him. “It’s not really of importance right now.” I said softly, “None of the events that led up to it has happened.” I shook my head, as I stared out the window, “I don’t think it will ever happen.”

“Why?” he asked, trying to get me to look at him. 

“Because you and Bella are not together, you are not romantically involved with any human. It’s a smart move on your part, it could put your whole clan in danger.” I felt a pang in my chest, why? I don’t know, it was just there and I don’t have time to try and figure it out.

“What does that mean?” He raised a brow at me. I avoided eye contact. I had come to terms with my developing feelings for him, but I had decided to ignore them completely. It wasn’t safe to act on any of those emotions.

He kept staring, curiosity burning through his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it.” I said quickly, suddenly feeling irritated. I could feel his intense gaze on me as I tried to ignore his presence. Can’t he understand I don’t want to talk about any of this at all.

He sighed deeply as he turned on the engine.

Heat blasted me in the face as he put the car into drive. “Let’s take you home then.” 

He had just turned towards the direction of my house when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the message.

“Change of plans,” He said, turning the wheel so hard he nearly put the car on two wheels. “We’re going to my place.”

“What the hell, Cullen!” I shouted, gripping the oh shit handle so tightly it actually hurt my knuckles. “What are you doing?! Why are we going to your house?!”

“It’s safer.” He said, rather simply, his eyes on the road as he went well passed the speed limit.

I could feel my entire body tense up so much that I couldn’t even breath as I clenched my teeth. I watched the scenery blur past us as he took sharp turns and immediately turned into the treeline. I thought we would crash, I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, only to find out a few moments later that we didn’t crash, which means that we were driving down a road rather than driving between the trees. I relaxed as soon as he parked his car. Where are the police when you have someone possibly burning rubber on the street?

“My tires are specially made for racing, they can handle a little speed.”

Get out of my head, Cullen, I know more songs that I know you do not want to get stuck.

I sat still in the front seat, trying to catch my breath as I detached myself from the Oh Shit handle. I kept my eyes closed as I took deep breaths.

My door opened suddenly, startling me. I looked up and saw Edward standing there, patiently waiting for me to get my not-so-happy ass out of the car.

“I’m… Comfortable right here…” I did NOT want to meet his family, I’m barely comfortable being around him.

He sighed and used his speed to unbuckle me and pick me up out of the car.

I damn near screamed as he carried me into the house. “Dammit Edward! I said ‘no’! Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!” I would be hitting him right now if I didn’t know in doing so I could break my hand. 

“Stop it, Jessica.” He said as he set me down on the couch, taking the seemingly wise move to stand several feet away from me. 

It was at this moment that a short, pixie haired girl danced into the room. 

“It’s so good to finally meet you!” Alice squealed excitedly as she plopped onto the couch next to me to hug me. “I’m sure we’ll be best friends!”

She was surprisingly gentle in her embrace. I pushed her away. “I already have a best friend, It’s Angela.”

She didn’t even pout, she just continued to smile at me. It was unnerving. It was like she knew something I didn’t- nevermind, I forgot who I was talking to for a minute.

It wasn’t long before I was surrounded by the rest of the Cullens. I was readily accepted by Esme and Alice, but, obviously, rejected by Rosalie. Jasper I was unsure of whether or not he accepted me, he just stood standoffish in the corner of the room. Emmett just stood with his usual goodball grin and his arm around Rosalie’s waist.

I could feel the blonde model’s glare on the back of my head as I stared intensely at Edward, completely annoyed at him in every possible way.

He tried to avoid eye contact, I don’t know why, he is supposed to be unaffected by anything a human can throw at him. Although I suppose I’m not a normal human. 

“Why did you bring that… Thing in here!” Rosalie hissed at Edward, in a way I suppose I wasn’t supposed to hear.

“Like you’re any better Miss Vampire.” I muttered, “You’re not even considered human anymore.” I glared at her, daring her to attack me. “You’re married to a meathead.” I looked over at Emmett, who secretly I liked a lot, more than Edward anyway. The big guy didn’t even seem offended by the comment, in fact, I earned a laugh from him.

“She is going to spill our secret at any moment, we should just get rid of her before she can.” She glared at me darkly, like she would gladly do it herself in 30 seconds or less.

I shot up from my seat and ignored the wide grin on Alice’s face.

“Excuse me how the hell did it take so long for me to become a threat? You have a mind reader, future seer and a fucking emotion sponge,” I pointed to each individual as I spoke, “if I had wanted to tell the world your secret I could have done so months ago.” 

“I could have done it in any number of ways, like, become a huge social media icon and spill it that way. People are sheep to those they’ll listen to. Or I could have called the fucking FBI, but see I didn’t, even if I did, I would have ended up in the Looney Bin!” I threw my hands in the air, glaring at Mrs. Prissy. “And don’t get me started on ways to kill you guys, I know of one very effective way, and the biggest one involves dismemberment and fire. Trust me when I say that it looks like ripping apart a mannequin you left in a freezer box for a week.” I eyed them from the corner of my eye as I started to pace. Carlisle and Esme seemed to understand my panic and moved to block Rosalie from doing anything crazy.

“Not to mention the fucking shapeshifters in the Quileute tribe.” I muttered, holding my chin with my left hand as I started getting lost in thought. “There’s…. Sam, Paul, and Jared right now if I remember correctly, Oh! And Leah, Seth hasn’t shifted yet…” I continued to mumble random things under my breath as I started giving into the panic. It was becoming difficult to breath as I stopped moving altogether. “Oh shit… That one guy. Oh man. If he got a hold of me because of my stupid knowledge he would lose his marbles with the stuff I know. You know, the one with the freaky laugh and weird hair and outdated clothes?” I looked up and Edward stiffened as he took in the mental image I was projecting at him. 

“Aro.” He hissed, causing the rest of his Coven to stiffen as well.

“How the hell does she know all of these things?!” Rosalie hissed back at him, which just caused him to sigh.

“It’s a long story.” He replied. “I didn’t tell her any of this.” He shot her a glare, which lead me to believe that she was thinking that.

“How the hell did it take so long for you guys to take action on this!” I sat down and gripped my hair tightly as I tried to catch my breath. 

“Well it can’t get any worse.” Carlisle said, his voice had this odd soothing nature to it. I couldn’t tell if my panic was subsiding because of that, or because Jasper had taken over my emotion pattern.

I sat down slowly as I tried to catch my breath once more. “You’re right. I’m not afraid to die a second time.” I rolled my eyes, muttering to myself about reincarnation and its bullshittedness. Of all times to miss my baby, it had to be now. I could feel my shoulders drooping as I tried to get ahold of myself before I started to cry.

I could feel Edward’s eyes on me as the room went silent. I understand completely what Rosalie and Esme are going through, with the loss of a baby and the loss of ability to have one, I don’t know if I could even compare. For all I know my baby is growing up healthy, going to school. For all I know he could have gotten married and given me grandbabies already.

“What do you mean, die a second time?” Carlisle asked, standing behind me by now. I looked up at him and sighed. 

“Honestly, that’s a long story. I already told Edward about half of it, he probably got the rest from my thoughts and memories from my past life. I still don’t know if it was all a dream or not. It all felt so real.” I shook my head as I gazed down at the nice, shiny hardwood floors.

“We have a lot of time.” Alice chirped, sitting next to me once more. I looked over at her, suddenly feeling emotionally drained. I’m so damn tired.

“I guess I owe you guys an explanation then…” I mumbled, leaning back on the surprisingly comfy couch.


	7. Chapter 7

A few hours after explaining my past life and the past 6 years in this life. Some of which Edward explained because he’s a damn mind reader and thought some details were important! They did not need to know about that time I snorted a milkshake out of my nose in front of Zack, Edward! We all sat in silence as the Cullens mulled over what was told to them.

"I think it's safe to assume that the Volturi are not on the need to know basis…" I muttered, getting silent nods from the pack of vampires sitting in front of me.

I couldn't stop the huge sigh of relief that escaped me.

"I can't read Bella's thoughts." Edward said rather suddenly. Getting somewhat shocked looks from everyone around the room except myself. “It’s like something is blocking her from me, no matter how often I try I can never hear what goes on in her mind.”

"She's a damn shield…" I muttered and crossed my arms, somewhat jealous. It would be freaking awesome if I had a special power or something. But nope. I'm just a regular human.

"What do you mean by that?" "You should consider yourself lucky to be normal." Cue Ed-Boy and Rosalie speaking at the same time.

I felt myself growing annoyed.

"What I mean by that, Rosalie, is that Bella has some extremely strong mental abilities, which project themselves as a shield over her mind. I’d bet good money that if you got like… I dunno, an illusionist or something and tried to test it on her, she wouldn’t feel a damn thing. Meanwhile I can have my mind poked and prodded by Mr.-" My voice drops several octaves. “I need to stare at everything because I have no personal boundaries…”

The room went silent. 

“That sounded just like Edward.”

I blinked, giving everyone a blank look. "No it didn't…" I said slowly. No way I could sound exactly like Edward without even trying. 

"Anyway, I doubt we have to worry about Bella. She'll be hanging out with the Wolf pack from now on. It won't take long for her to be accepted into their pack." I said absentmindedly. Picking at my fingernails, trying to get the focus off of myself.

"Great." Rosalie hissed. "That means the school will smell of wet dog then."

I couldn't help but snort in amusement after she said that.

"It’s not funny." She proceeded to hiss at me, glaring her sharp golden eyes at me, they were almost brown in color at this moment. I returned my glare, two can play this game and I am not backing down from a blond Barbie doll.

I just shrugged, only to be startled by Alice who immediately grabbed my arm and started dragging me out of the living room and up the stairs.

"Let's give each other makeovers!" She giggled, I looked back at everyone, helpless and basically pleading for help but they either shrugged or ignored me. Lord help me…

~~~

It had been maybe an hour later and Jasper poked his head into the room. "Can you guys keep the cutesy girly giggles and feels down. I'm getting a cavity."

I knew he was teasing us, which amused me to no end. "You know you can't get a cavity and please, stop trying to use modern lingo. It doesn't sound right from your mouth." I said seriously. His accent really did not work with anything that wasn’t proper and old fashioned.

Alice continued to giggle quietly from beside me. I stared at her after Jasper left.

"Why do you keep giggling like that?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"I know who you have a crush on!" She squealed.

I felt dread filling me as the blood drained from my face.

"I don't have a crush on anyone!" I whisper-shouted at her even though I knew it was pointless. Everyone in this house but me either has mind powers or can hear everything from a mile away.

"Of course you do! I also know how everything will end up!" She winked at me which only caused my face to flush a bright red as I tried to avoid eye contact.

"Nothing will end up in any way!" I said stubbornly. "I refuse to accept or acknowledge it. So stop with your giggling, it’s creeping me out!" 

She just giggled some more.

After a while, I felt myself grow drowsy to the point where I would find the nearest head-level surface to be rather comfortable. I didn’t know what Edward meant by my being in his home being safer, what I did know was that I wanted to go home so I could sleep.

“Why don’t you spend the night? Your parents are out of town until tomorrow right?” Alice asked, finally calmed down enough to talk seriously.

I raised a brow at her, before nodding. “Yeah, I guess so, not like anyone here is going to take me home and I didn’t see a bus stop near here…” I watched as her eyes lit up excitedly. “Where would I sleep though?”

“You can sleep in Edward’s room!” She announced, which just caused me to sigh tiredly. Of course she would recommend that.

“Last I checked, he didn’t have a bed.” I said seriously. “I’ll crash on the couch in the living room, Rosalie can glare at me until her face freezes for all I care..”

“You have to sleep in Edward’s room!” she cried, pouting at me which just caused me to shake my head.

“I want to sleep in the living room. Really Alice, I doubt he wants me in his room anyway.”

I got up from the couch in Alice’s room and opened the door. When I moved to walk out I bumped into an icy wall. My nose is going to become flat at this rate.

I didn’t have to look up to know who it was. Every freaking time. I whined internally as I looked up at Edward’s face. He kept his expression schooled but I could tell he was amused just by looking into his eyes and it honestly pissed me off.

“Will you please move out of my way.” I ground out through gritted teeth.

He moved slightly to the right and I slid passed him as I headed down to the living-room. It was empty, and on the armrest was a pillow and blanket, the blanket folded neatly on top of the pillow. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face as I took both items, laying the pillow on the couch and taking my shoes off, I layed down and immediately covered my whole body, head and all with the blanket. I pressed my entire body into the back of the couch, only leaving enough so I could breath and had my arm rest over my ear as I closed my eyes to sleep. It was 9 pm, but since I don’t have homework I figured it would be best to just get to sleep. No matter how early it is.

I could hear Alice and Edward arguing upstairs, it wasn’t loud but Edward sounded upset which in turn upset Alice and I think Jasper joined at some point due to the negativity. I tried ignoring them the best I could but honestly I knew they were fighting about me and I didn’t like it.

~~~

I woke up the following morning to the smell of waffles and bacon. It smelled so good that I followed my nose, half asleep, to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Jessica. I hope you slept well.” Esme’s sweet, motherly voice said cheerfully from in front of the stove, she had a cute little apron and was holding a plastic spatula rather delicately.

“Morning Esme.” I mumbled sleepily, taking a seat at the table in front of the plate of food. Since no one else ate I assumed it was for me. “This looks and smells incredible.” 

She smiled happily at me, “I’m glad, Edward said you loved waffles and it was something new to try!” Esme placed the dirty dishes into the sink and turned to face me to continue our conversation.

“Well, he wasn’t wrong. There was this one time at school one of our clubs did a waffle making thing for fundraising, my friend Angela tried to take mine away from me, and… well, let’s just say I’m the reason she can’t wear one of her shirts anymore.” I snorted, actually glad for that tidbit of information Edward managed to take from my thoughts and overactive reactions. I took a bite and it felt like the flavors were dancing on my tongue. “Wow! For someone who can’t taste or smell human food, you did perfectly!” I said excitedly as I took another bite. “This is the best tasting waffle I’ve ever had! Holy crap, this is like it was baked by an angel!”

Esme’s eyes lit up happily as she smiled even wider. “I’m so glad! I found that recipe from one of Jasper’s books and I wanted to test out some new ingredients.”

~~~

It wasn’t much longer after breakfast that I was told it was time to go home. I was more than happy to oblige, wanting to go home and take a long and hot shower far away from half a dozen vampires. While I enjoy being in Esme’s presence and Jasper had interesting stories to tell, I couldn’t stand being under the same roof as Edward much longer.

Emmett was the one to drive me home, which was surprising, considering how Edward usually insisted on driving me home. 

It was a quiet ride, neither of us wanted to break the silence, so it was extremely awkward. 

I waved goodbye after getting out of the car. I didn’t really understand why all of this was happening to me. Maybe I couldn’t fight my natural sense of curiosity. I sighed a bit, shaking my head before going into my house. It was quiet and still as I stood in the front hall. 

It was only a few hours later, at 2:46 pm, that my parents came home with my little brother. My parents seemed unusually excited considering everything that was going on.

“What happened?” I asked with a tilt of my head, my gut telling me something was going to happen that I was not going to like.

“Your father and I decided that… with what happened…” Mom started, running her hand through Max’s hair. “We wanted to make as many beautiful and exciting memories with the two of you and to give you two more experiences in life.”

I nod slowly to indicate for her to go on.

“So… we got tickets to fly to Italy and spend your spring break there! One of your father’s coworkers had gotten them in a raffle but didn’t have the time so he gave them to us!” Mom exclaimed with excitement. “We have it all planned out,” she set her bag on the coffee table before sitting down next to me. “We’ll get to our hotel room before we visit a museum that’s nearby, and then have dinner at one of the smaller diners a coworker recommended me. There will be plenty of time to just sight-see and we put the order for Euros so we don’t have to use ATMs, I heard most of them are pretty fishy.” She seemed genuinely excited for this, oblivious to my growing horror. 

I felt dread fill me from my toes to the top of my head as I tried to hide my horror. Spring break is in a week. “That sounds awesome!” I forced a smile onto my face as I lied through my teeth. “I wish next week could come sooner!” 

I told her I had some homework to finish before running up the stairs. I couldn’t keep up this ridiculous facade.

Closing the door behind me slowly, before going to my bed and collapsing onto it. I buried my face into my pillow, I could feel my hair pressing into my eyelids as I held it tightly to my face. I tried not to cry, out of fear mostly. Some frustration welled up as well. This was not okay. We’re all going to die. I just know it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a thing I posted! It's titled Vote! Those who want to see more work from me once this story is completed feel free to go and check that thing out and let me know what you think I should write next!
> 
> Also, these chapters are all pre-written, I'm just not allowed to post unless I have about 5 more chapters after it written already.


	8. Chapter 8

I sat on the plane trying to calm my racing heart, both from the incline of the plane and the pit of my gut screaming danger. We were somehow in first class. Those tickets my dad got from his coworker were high class and it made me extremely uncomfortable. Why would his coworker give him such luxurious tickets? Isn’t it at least a thousand dollars per person to just fly the lowest ranking when going to Italy?

My gut was screaming at me. Maybe I should have texted Edward before I boarded- wait, why Edward? Oh, right, he put his number on my phone at some point.

We had 20 minutes until the plane was supposed to land. Max was dozing in the seat next to me, my mom was reading a book and my dad was working on his laptop, occasionally taking a sip of red wine from a glass. Anxiety does not help when you are stuck in a metal box for over 13 hours.

The anxiety running through me had my heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Taking a deep breath I turned my gaze out the window as I tried to slow my heart down. I don't know what was going to happen. All I know is that we, for some reason, have an all expenses paid vacation in Volterra Italy and we only found out yesterday morning. So my parents changed up their plans and we were going to spend a week in Volterra.

Volterra… and this is the world of Twilight… I wish I was back in Forks.

Taking a mint from the bag I stuffed into my pocket of my favorite purple hoodie before we boarded, I quickly unwrapped it and popped it into my mouth. The taste and the distraction of sucking on a mint helped calm my anxiety a bit. I am not happy with this. Not at all, but my family is excited. So long as we don’t take that tour I guess we’ll be okay… I shivered just thinking about it makes me want to vomit with nerves. I popped another mint, thank god they were on sale last week.

I turned to look at Max who let out a sudden loud snore, I couldn’t stop the snort from escaping as I fought a laugh. The announcement over the speakers, it was a man’s voice saying that we would be landing in 10 minutes and that we should be ready to put our seat belts on.

5 minutes before the plane was supposed to land, I woke up Max and let him know he had to buckle up.

About an hour later after going through customs and claiming our baggage we were sitting in our hotel room. It was night time, which meant we could get some sleep before our “Adventure” was going to start tomorrow morning. My brother and I shared a room with 2 single beds while my parents got the second bedroom with the double bed. Sharing a room with my brother just meant I had to change clothes in the bathroom so it didn’t bother me much, I was going to change in here anyway. I shook my head as I plopped down onto my chosen bed after pulling my fuzzy purple blanket out of my backpack. “Time to sleep.” I muttered.

“Good night Sissy.” I heard my little brother mumbled, it caused me to freeze. He hadn’t called me that since he was 6 years old. Looking over at him and he looked uncomfortable as he fell back asleep. I don’t know what to do for him. I laid my head down on my pillow as I continued to watch him, I know he is going to have nightmares. Sighing, I closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep.

~~~

Around 1 am, I woke with a start, I sat up, panting heavily as my eyes darted around the room. I don’t know what, but something woke me up. I was having a nice dream too. I don’t remember it much, but I know there was a unicorn.

I stared around the room, it was so dark I couldn’t even see, so I don’t know why exactly I was looking around. Maybe it was the feeling of eyes on me. I couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes on me.

Shaking my head, I gulped down a mouthful of air and closed my eyes as I took a deep breath. “Just my imagination then… I regret binge watching all those slashers on the plane...” I mumbled to myself as I laid back down. I drew my blanket up to my chin and grumbled a bit. I was seriously annoyed at being woken up so early in the morning.

I shivered from a sudden breeze coming from the open window next to my bed. “Spoiler alert, I am in a slasher film. Remember to double tap to ensure kill...” I muttered, getting out of bed to shut the window.

Crawling back into bed, I fell back asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

~~~

Despite the cool air from the night before, it was hot during the day. I wore a tank top and a pair of shorts. My favorite purple zip up hoodie tied around my waist as I trailed behind my parents who were taking pictures and mumbling excitedly to each other like  
I couldn’t fight the feeling of embarrassment from rising in my chest. They were so lovey dovey and cutesy, but at the same time they were so… American in how they took pictures. At least they were being respectful towards others around them and the things they were taking pictures of.

I looked between my parents to the far distance in front of them, at the growing crowd of people in front of the massive and ancient clock tower. I could feel the blood draining from my face as my mom turned to my dad with an excited grin.

“Let’s take the tour!” She said excitedly as my father nodded.

I opened my mouth to argue but no sound came out as I gripped my sweater tied tightly around my waist.

Max looked up at me curiously, but he didn’t ask anything, he just took a hold of my arm and continued walking next to me. I made sure to always keep him within my sights. I don’t want him disappearing on me again.

We joined the rest of the crowd outside of the massive clock tower. I could feel the anxiety building once again and while I tried my best to hide it, I knew Max could tell just by the way he tightened his grip on my arm.

"It's gonna be okay Sis." He said softly, looking up at me with a reassuring smile which I nodded in response to. I knew he had no idea what was going to happen, so it was hard for me to take his words to heart and relax. I wasn’t going to relax until I was home in bed away from all of this mess.

I chewed my bottom lip as we followed the crowd into the surprisingly warm building. We walked past a woman behind a desk, who nodded slightly to the tour guide. I couldn’t help the shudder from running up and then down my spine. The tour guide was named Heidi if I remember correctly. It took so much thinking the night before and the flight over. I know she has this weird ability that attracts others to her, and that was why she was used as the tour guide.

She walked ahead of the group by a few feet, blabbing on about the history of the massive painting of an old crumbling castle, about how it was painted in 1878 by a forgotten artist who never signed his own work with a name, just a symbol. It looked like a leaf in the bottom right corner of the painting.

I couldn’t stop the awe of wonder as I looked up at the painting. It had to be at least 6 feet tall and 5 feet long. Making it a pretty big painting. After being captured for a few minutes I realised that I had lagged behind quite a bit. The group was already turning a corner several feet ahead of me. Max stuck close to me, which caused me to sigh with a bit of relief. “Let’s catch up.”

He nodded with a smile and turned with me so we could catch up with our parents.

Turning the corner quickly I accidentally bumped into something hard and cold. Letting out a squeak, I soon realized that it was not in fact Aro but instead a well-placed statue of a naked olympic participant. I let out a nervous laugh, it was different from my normal one, nasally and high-pitched; it took only a few seconds for me to realize just who’s laugh I let slip past my lips. Turning to make sure no one but Max heard, I quickly dragged him towards the group, feeling goosebumps on my arms and the back of my neck.

“What’s up with your laugh?” Max asked with a scrunched up nose, giving my hand a squeeze.

“Oh nothing! Just didn’t expect to see a naked marble man there.”

“It’s just a statue…” He raised a brow at me, he has always been able to do that and it irritates me, it took months of practice just to be able to raise one. I shook my head.

“Yeah, a naked man statue with an actual carved penis. I was not expecting it.” I stuck my tongue out at him which just caused him to roll his eyes.

“Whatever sis.” He muttered.

I looked forward and realized we caught up with the group. They were heading down a flight of stairs which caused me to feel all the blood drain from my face. We’re going downstairs… Which meant we were going to meet the kings… Which meant we were going to die. Oh god. We’re going to die! I never even got to live my life! I’m just a highschool student! Granted I’m 18, but still! Max is only 12! He has his whole life ahead of him. The warmth of his hands assured me of this!

While shaking in my boots, I followed the rest of the group while making sure that Max was as behind me as possible without it being too suspicious. He still gave me funny looks, which I ignored.

I kept ahold of his hand tightly as we descended further down the stairs, my palms started to sweat profusely from the grip and the pre-existing heat. Max took his hand away to wipe it against his shirt and made me wipe my own hand before he even thought about taking my hand again. My eyes scanning for our parents which they seemed to have been swallowed up the group. If I wasn’t fearing for our lives I would be admiring the ancient architecture of the building itself.

I do love my ancient architecture. If I remember correctly this building is well over 300 years old. Chewing my bottom lip even more as I noticed we were coming up to the massive doors that led to the throne room. I am not ready to die.

~~~

The tour ended without bloodshed. Which was surprising on its own. But that didn't stop my heart from jumping into my throat as I noticed 50 missed calls, 20 were from Edward, 6 were from Bella and the rest were all unknown numbers. I also had 7 texts from Bella and, I swear I'm not kidding, 80 from edward, 10 more messages from an unknown which turned out to be Alice.

All asking where I was and if I was still alive. It would have been funny if I wasn't literally one wrong move from dying. Though Bella's first text made me let out a nervous chuckle, hold the mimicking.

_ Hey, Jessica? I just got a call from Edward asking if I got a hold of you. Are you two okay? He sounds like you on test day except without the three cups of coffee. I think he has a phobia of Italy. Give your boyfriend a call when you can. _

Okay, first of all, he's not my boyfriend.

Frowning, I couldn't stop cringing as I scrolled to Edward's name in my contacts. I seriously debated calling him. I stared at the screen for several minutes only to squeak when it started buzzing and Edward's name flashed on my screen.

I debated for a second before hitting the answer button.

"Hello?" I said, though it was more of a question.

" _ Good, you're alive. _ " His voice came out in the form of a relieved sigh.

"You already knew that." I stated calmly, feeling my lip twitch slightly. 

" _ Yes, but it's good to hear your voice as confirmation. _ " He said cooly. “ _ How are you feeling right now _ ?”

"Wish my parents didn’t convince my brother and I to take that stupid tour… building was pretty though." I grumbled. "We'll be home at the end of the week."

" _ Which you know that I know as well. _ " Edward's voice had a tinge of amusement in it, which meant he was smirking.

"Yeah yeah, way to rub it in,” I sassed back but paused and chewed my bottom lip. “Thanks for… being concerned and calling me just now… I really needed this talk.”

“ _ Anytime. I’ll text Bella to let her know you’re fine- Nevermind, Alice did it for me it seems. _ ” Edward’s voice sounded distant, like he had removed the phone from his face to look at something. “ _ Get some rest.” _

“Yeah… bye…” I hung up and put my phone in my zipped up purse. Our parents took Max and I to a restaurant where we enjoyed some nice seafood while our parents had a wine tasting in another room. Mom came back with a bottle with the intent of saving it for next Christmas and we returned to our hotel room. 

I laid down on my bed. Frowning deeply as I got lost in thought and replayed the events of today. All these things happening to me in such a short amount of time. It's confusing and I hate it. My voice thing to be specific… and this vacation. It's giving me a headache just thinking about it and now I wished I had spent spring vacation hanging out with Angela or Bella or… well, anyone and anywhere but here.

I remembered to lock the window before bed and laid out some crinkle paper from a cookie package Max had eaten from on the windowsill.

~~~

The doors to the throne room swung open and in stepped a small man with dirty blonde hair.

"Master… There is something you need to know." He said nervously, his eyes locked to the ground in submission.

The man sitting in the center throne gave a slow smile. "And what would that be, Scott?" The man leaned forward and laced his fingers in front of his mouth as he tried not to giggle.

"A human girl, the sister of that boy. She laughed… Just like you. It sounded…. Odd." He was obviously anxious, after all, he just called his master's laugh odd. If he could, he would have paled when he realized that the man was expecting clarification immediately. "She ran into a statue and then laughed. She looked panicked afterwards, like that wasn't intentional and looked around but didn’t notice me… thanks to my abilities. I heard her laugh earlier in the day, at her parents… she didn't have the same sound that time."

The blond vampire to the man's left let out a scoff, "Aro, laugh for us."

Aro looked at Caius with amusement, then let out a laugh. In the moment, he decided to sound nervous in order to see how Scott would react. He was pleased with the results.

"Th-That is exactly how she sounded!" Scott exclaimed, slamming a hand over his mouth as he didn't realize he was shouting until it was too late.

"Have no fear, you told us something of interest. Come…" Aro extended a hand. "Let me see…"

Scott slowly walked over and, while trying to hide his hesitance, placed his hand on top of his master's.

Aro stilled for a minute and then smiled. "Fascinating. Perfect mimicry, and yet she has never once met me." He released the vampire. "Send Demetri over, I believe some information is needed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vote! Will only be up until Saturday, once its taken down I will tally up the votes from this site and Fanfiction . net all together and let you know in chapter 9 what story has been chosen!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!!


	9. Chapter 9

It was the first day back at school. I was immediately crushed into an embrace the second I stepped out of the car. I couldn't breath for a second. But only for a second, the grip loosened enough for air to return to me but strong enough that I wouldn’t be able to leave without some force, one arm was wrapped around my body and the other hand was holding my head close to them, fingers threaded in my hair.

"You're never going to Italy without me again. You can go to France, China, Australia… anywhere in the world, you can go alone, but if you go back to Italy I’m going with you." The voice that was muffled in my hair was extremely familiar and his words made my heart squeeze and tears to fill my eyes as I hugged him back. He tensed, like he wasn't expecting me to reciprocate.

"That's something we can both agree on." I muffled into his shirt as I tried to contain the wave of emotions filling me. It was suddenly tampered down and I felt calmer. 'Thanks Jasper' I thought silently. 

Edward pulled away after what felt like an eternity and gripped my chin gently. He was staring deeply into my eyes and examining my face simultaneously. "You didn't get much sleep last night did you." He stared harder at my face, daring me to lie to him.

"No. I was still freaked about what happened in Italy… I was jumpy the whole plane ride..." I replied, pulling away from him as I rubbed my jaw. 

Edward stood silently over me as I avoided eye contact. He shifted a bit before looking over his shoulder. "I want to take you somewhere."

"Huh, what do you mean?" I stared up at him, moving my head so fast my neck actually cracked.

He winced a bit, both at the sound and my question."You know… on a date…" He seemed nervous. It was kind of cute.

"Are you asking me out?" I couldn't stop the teasing tone from escaping with the words.

"Yes or no?" Edward's suddenly serious voice caused me to jolt upright in surprise.

I thought for a moment. I never thought he would ask me out in a million years. "Yeah... Okay. But if I don't enjoy it, you're not my boyfriend and I’m very hard to please." I pointed my finger directly in his face. That last bit was probably the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever spewed out of my mouth.

He smiled before nodding. "Of course." 

I could only shake my head as I grabbed my bag from the front passenger seat of my car. "Graduation is in a few months." I looked up at him. "Are you ready for it?" I couldn't stop the nervous fiddling I was doing with my backpack strap as I tried to ignore the amount of whispering and staring going around us as people pointed.

"What do you think?" I could tell from his voice that he was smirking but I refused to look at his face. 

"I think you're a royal pain in the ass." I said stubbornly, looking down at my purple shoelaces in annoyance.

He let out a low chuckle, it would have been menacing if I didn’t know he was laughing at my expense.

I rolled my eyes harder than I ever had before which caused pain to twinge behind my eyes.

"I have to get to class." I tightened my grip on my backpack strap before skirting around him and heading towards my first class of the day. “I’ll… see you around.”

I felt his eyes on me the whole way until I turned the corner. I couldn’t stop the blush from spreading all over my face as I ran the rest of the way to building E, not to mention the smile.

Taking my time, I finally reached my class with 3 minutes to spare. I plopped down in my desk and allowed myself to feel a little embarrassed. “I’m so dumb…” I whined silently to myself.

“Are you okay Jessica?” Angela’s voice startled me, I looked up at her. “You seem distracted.”

“I’m fine, for now. I’ll tell you at lunch…” I smiled anxiously at her. I really wanted to tell her now, but not in a silent classroom. Only 4 hours until lunch time. I can do this….

“You owe me a time for us to look at the photos of your trip to Italy, by the way. Both Bella and I want to see them,” Angela reminded me softly, my ear twitching to the familiar click of her mechanical pencil.

~~~

The second I told Angela, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “AND YOU SAID YES?!” She shouted rather loudly, causing several people to look at us. I could feel Edward’s smirk on my back as I tried to hide my embarrassment, which just meant turning into a turtle and scrunching my neck in. I could already hear conversations stopping and feel people staring.

“Shhhhhhhh.” I hissed, covering her mouth with my hand. “Not so loud, it’s not official yet!”

She pushed my hand away and continued to stare at me. “You said yes?” She took me seriously and asked her question again, in a whisper this time.

I nodded slowly, my face felt like it was on fire as I avoided all eye contact and instead chose to stare at my lap. Jeans can be very fascinating if you want to avoid everyone’s gaze.

“What are you going to do if you enjoy yourself?” I looked up at her through my bangs, thinking over her question briefly. 

“Accept the fact that I am Cullen’s girlfriend…” I felt my heart leap into my throat at the thought, not in a bad way, but in pure joy. I should be hating myself for feeling this way but… on the other hand... “It won’t be so bad, I’ll have some arm candy at the very least.” I ignored the urge to laugh at my own joke. I already know I’m going to be hearing about it later from Mr.I-Have-Inhuman-Hearing-And-Can-Hear-Your-Every-Thought.

I wonder what date he has in mind.

~~~

Early Saturday afternoon, I got a text from Alice, telling me to wear my comfy jeans and favorite fuzzy sweater. It was a super fluffy and warm sweater so I’m guessing the date will take place partially outside. She also told me to make sure I wear my brand new leather jacket I got for my birthday. I found the jacket easily enough but I couldn’t find the sweater anywhere. 

I had 5 hours until Edward was supposed to pick me up. While the amount of time wasn’t a problem, it was the sheer fact that my favorite warm sweater was missing that caused me to freak out.

I was throwing clothes everywhere and completely covered my room in every type of clothing I owned imaginable. Max decided that was the perfect time to open my door just as I was throwing at least 4 bras at his general direction. 2 of them hit him square in the face.

I will be honest, no idea why I thought my sweater would be in my underwear drawer.

His entire body paled by at least 3 shades as he peeled off the garments from his person. “GROSS!!!!” He shouted as he ran from my room in a speed I did not know he was capable of in the safety of our home. The last time he ran that fast was when he was trying to escape from one Mr. Charles Entertainment Cheese from Chuck E. Cheese.

“Knock next time!” I shouted back at him, I couldn’t hear him over the sound of the running water from the bathroom down the hall. Those bras were just washed the other day too. I rolled my eyes and continued to look until I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Pulling it out, I noticed it was from Alice.

“Sweater is in top right drawer of the dresser…” I read out loud as I stood up, making my way to my dresser.

After finally getting dressed, I had four and a half hours before Edward was supposed to be here. I took this free time to fiddle with my hair and make up. After about an hour of that I got another text from Alice. “Go with that look! ;)” 

I rolled my eyes again but obliged. I mean, I never wear make up and if Alice approved then I’m going with this look.

My parents knocked on the door. They were a bit shocked, judging by their expressions, at the mess in my room but quickly collected themselves. “We thought we would give you some spending money, for your date.” My mother said as my father handed me 50 dollars. I smiled, accepting the cash. I knew I would be giving it back to them at the end of the night, since Edward won’t let me pay for any of it. Alice was very involved in making sure I was aware of how Edward would act during the date.

“Thanks mom, dad.” I said rather quietly, fidgeting with my clothes. I’ve never actually dated in this life before and I’m certain my parents are surprised that I’m going on my first date at 18 years old.

“Of course, we just want to make sure you have a good time.” My dad gave me his good natured smile.

“But not too much of a good time!” My mother blurted out which caused me to let out an embarrassed giggle. Not the cutesy kind, but the kinda of giggle you hear middle schoolers during sex ed when the teacher insists on using the proper names.

“It’s not that kind of date.” I said quickly. ‘I hope.’ my brain whispered back to me as I tried to get a handle on the blush that was spreading to my ears and neck.

My father gave me an amused look as he leads my mother out of the room. Oh man, Edward would have a ball with that one… provided my dad isn’t thinking about twenty ways to murder him when he arrives.

Shaking my head, I decided a nap was a great idea. I went to my bed, and flopped onto it, not the least bit worried about my hair. It was a simple side braid, one that I could do with my eyes closed. Yawning, my eyes drifted shut and I was out before I knew what hit me. 

~~~

A tapping on my door woke me up from my short nap. I jolted upright as my door slowly swung open. I fixed my hair and stood up before it fully swung open.

"Edward is here." Max looked up at me with wide eyes. He looked around the hazard that is my room, but I also noticed how white his knuckles were as he clutched the door. I slowly climb out of bed and kneel to his height.

"I'll be home by 8:30, okay?" I smiled at him and ruffled his curly hair.

He smiled and his shoulders relaxed slightly. "Okay."

I patted his head before checking my makeup and jumping down the stairs in my excitement. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I froze in place.

There Edward stood, tall and handsome as ever, but at the same time there was a level of humbleness as he was nodding politely to my dad. He was beautiful… majestic…

… Like a unicorn.

“She’s to be home before 9.” Dad started, arms folded and trying to look intimidating even if he’s possibly one of the nerdiest men I have ever known in this life.

“8:30 it is then, sir. I will personally contact the both of you if we are delayed, I had hopes of-” Edward whispers softly to my parents so I couldn’t hear him. My mother starts to clap in delight while my dad looked… pleased?!

“Old-fashioned, I like it.” I wanted to die as that seemed to be an adequate praise to come from my dad. “And-”

“Keep things respectful to both Jessica and myself, this is our first date. Keep her safe, far away from the shadier parts of the city and always hold her purse when she needs to walk away from it.” Edward’s polite smile never left his lips as he finished, what I could only assume, to be my dad’s thoughts. His eyes shift over to me. “Are you ready to go?”

“Mhm…” I walked over, which in reality felt more like a prance if anything. “Bye you two.”

I wave to my parents and follow Edward to his car. He held open the door and I carefully slid in.

~~~

We sat in silence for several minutes before we pulled up to a restaurant and my jaw dropped. The Melting Pot? But you have to get a reservation for this half of the time, especially this time of year! How long as Edward had this planned?

"Are you coming?" I sat in shock for so long I didn't even realize he had already come around and opened my door.

"Y-yeah." I unbuckled and got out, a little overwhelmed all of the sudden. He shut the door behind me before placing his hand on my lower back and gently pushed me towards the entrance.

“Just relax, today I want you to feel special,” He whispered to me, but not close enough to where he’s near my ear. When we entered the restaurant, Edward walked to the counter. “Table for two under Cullen.”

It wasn't long until we were seated. He continued to smirk at me which eventually just began to push my buttons. "Get that look off your face you five foot nine inch sparkly unicorn." I grumbled, making sure I wasn’t disturbing other customers.

"I'm 6'2"."

I looked up at him, eyes feeling like they were going to jump from my skull. "What?"

"I'm 6 foot and 2 inches tall." He smirked wider at me, his voice holding a hint of a chuckle.

“Your hair doesn’t count,” I decided to point out, taking a sip of my water while never breaking eye contact with him. Ha! I love it when his smirk drops.

"Are you ready to order?" Our waitress appeared. A young, gorgeous blond girl, easily college age with a slim figure and had large (and obviously fake) breasts. She was eyeing Edward up and down while pushing an arm under her breasts in an attempt to give the illusion of buoyancy. I couldn't stop the surge of jealousy from welling up in my chest. Shouldn’t she just do her job and not flirt with my date?

"Yes, this is my lady’s first time here, I wanted to order your seasonal special and steak lovers,” Edward stated while looking at the menu, not once looking at our waitress and instead would look only at me. He ordered the main pot as well as dippings, most of it were foods I was unfamiliar with and the waitress wrote down the orders. I had to drink more water to hide my grin at how disappointed she looked when Edward refused to look at her until the end of the order, only to look completely bored.

"She doesn't interest me." Edward’s soft voice rang out. I flushed so red I could see my nose glowing like Rodolph with a cold. "All she was thinking about was taking me to bed." He rolled his eyes, then made one last little comment. “She shouldn’t focus so much on how much effort she put in enlarging certain parts of her body, it wont stay.”

I huffed and crossed my arms as I slouched in my chair. "Right… It was a little annoying. Why did you order for me?"

“You were honing in on the cheapest thing on the menu, despite eyeing the steaks almost immediately…” Edward gave a polite nod to the waitress when she came by with the pot to heat up then continued talking when she left. “I want you to enjoy yourself and not feel pressured.”

“It’s hard sometimes…”

“Just trust me.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Looking up at him I chewed my bottom lip. "What are we doing after this?" 

"That's a secret." He winked at me with a smirk which just caused me to frown at him.

~~~

Turns out his secret was a walk through my favorite, yet abandoned, childhood playground. The moon was full tonight, which lit up the pathway effortlessly. We walked silently side by side as the crickets chirped, filling in the deafening silence. To be honest, this was surprisingly relaxing. I’m glad that I said yes…

“This makes you my girlfriend now, correct?” He looked down at me, his golden eyes glowing as he smiled.

“Ask me after our second date.” I rolled my eyes, pulling at my ear in embarrassment.

He laughed. The sound of it made me believe he was truly relaxed despite the fact that I’m a human and we’re alone together.

“You’re blood doesn’t call to me like anyone else’s does.” Edward sounded a little lost when he said this.

“Is that bad?” I looked up at him again.

“No, not really. It means that I can truly relax without the fear of snapping and hurting you.” He smiled down at me, this time was almost heart melting. He looked so charming, so human when he smiled like that.

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back. “That’s good at least.” I hummed in reply as I looked down at our feet. The grass was still wet from the light rain that had previously been falling while we chatted in the restaurant. “Bella… she um… has that kind of smell, right?”

“Like a drug calling to someone with an addiction… despite what you told me, I don’t believe I could actually be alone with her. It’s best for her safety that she spends time with the Quileute people, they’ll protect her from vampires that would kill her.” He chuckled and reached over to carefully move a strand of hair from my face. “I prefer being with a woman who I can feel assured that they are safe around me… rather than worrying for their lives just by being near me.”

I shoved my hands in my jacket, tucking my head down. This was… nice.

I felt his eyes on me as we continued our walk. 

“Let’s get you home.” He looked up at me from his watch. I nodded, trying not to feel embarrassed as I followed him to his car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys! The poll is down and the results are in! I tallied up all the votes from here and from where I posted this story on Fanfiction . net!
> 
> Are you ready?
> 
> And the results are!!!!!!!
> 
> ZukoxOc 11
> 
> Integra sister 5
> 
> SI!Dipper 4
> 
> And the next story to be written will be the Zuko story which is titled Polar Opposites! I can't wait to be able to share that story with you! It's my baby just like this one!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Third Person

Bella sat in her truck, nervously fiddling with the string to her hoodie as she stared at the little red house. She knew that Jacob knew she was there just by how loud her ancient, rust covered dinosaur of a truck was, but that didn’t stop her from being hesitant on leaving the warm cab of her truck. 

After her brief romance with Edward that ended as abruptly as it started, she began to hang out more around Jake. It didn’t take long for her to notice how his eyes lit up to an almost caramel color when he talked about things he loved and how his eyes would darken to black when he starts talking about things that upset him. It was an interesting trait of his that Bella loved to look at when talking to him, though it was hard not to make it look awkward. She felt a blush spread across her face as she covered her face with her hands. Jake actually called her out on her staring one time when he was talking about his newest passion project.

“Ugh… How did I start feeling like this? Jake is… Jake!” Bella scolded herself. After all, Jacob was younger than her, but… him just being “Jake” or “Jacob” felt… right. 

Edward… there was nothing, he was just that hot guy from school. Nothing sparked between them; Bella was glad that Jessica was spending time with him, they look cute together, even if Jessica would lose her mind if Bella said anything about it.

She looked at the door of the small house and saw Jake’s tall, muscular frame standing in the narrow doorway, he was shirtless and it just caused her to blush even more, feeling the warmth travel to her ears. She didn’t understand his sudden growth spurt or muscular growth but it didn’t matter to her. To her Jake was still the sweet guy she knew from her childhood. He was still the same guy who would steal her milkshake just to dunk his fries in them and to be fair, he’s not wrong in doing that.

Shaking her head quickly she unbuckled and got out of her truck, shivering slightly from the cold breeze that immediately rushed by, crashing into her like a wave. This would be the first time she had seen him since he cut off all contact all of the sudden.

"Hey Bella." He had a somewhat cocky smirk on his face when he spotted the sharp contrast of her cheeks compared to her neck and forehead.

"That can't be you…" she mumbled, looking up at him with wide, nervous brown eyes.

"Who else would I be?" He asked with a chuckle.

"I don't know. Shorter, scrawny, with long hair…" she replied, eyeing him up and down. He's grown at least a foot since they last saw each other. “I remember my Jacob also wearing more clothes.”

“‘Your Jacob’?” Jake stared at Bella silently for a moment, bursting into laughter just as the tension built up in the air. “I’m kidding, Bella. Don’t worry, things are just… changing a little for me.” 

“It seems like things are changing a lot around here.” Bella looked at his chest before looking back up at him. 

Jacob watched her impossibly thin shoulders start shivering from the sheer temperature. “Let’s get you inside, huh?” He grinned before stepping out of the way of the doorway.

Bella nodded and eagerly stepped into the house, allowing enough space for him to squeeze in as well and shut the door.

“Let me go and get dressed really quick.” He grinned before disappearing into a room on the right. 

Bella let a small smile graced her lips as she looked at the photos on the walls, some of them have Jake’s mom, who had passed away when Jake was only 8-years-old. Some of the pictures are of his two older sisters who are actually twins. While Bella played with them quite often when they were kids, she couldn’t actually remember their names.

It was only a few minutes later but it felt like a millenium to Bella when Jake finally came out of his room, dressed in khaki pants and a long sleeved shirt that, while it covered him, left nothing to the imagination as you could see each muscle ripple with every single movement.

“Let’s go to town and catch an early lunch. I’m starving!” Jake grinned down at her, causing her to fidget with her hair.

“Yeah, sure.” She mumbled softly, nodding as they started heading for her truck. “I’ll drive. I promise my driving has improved the past few months, especially with your tips”

“That’s good, I feel more safe with you driving it than anyone else-” Jake suddenly tensed by Bella's side, causing her to look up at him again. He was glaring at something just beyond her truck.

Following his gaze she saw a group of muscular, tanned men that she didn't recognize but it was obvious Jake did.

Jake’s shoulders trembled. Bella saw one of the men step forward in a threatening manner and she heard Jake let out a snarl that was… animalistic at best description.

Right in front of her eyes the man, his expression completely enraged, tackled Jake after the two made eye contact with the man in the middle of the group. They wrestled around and threw punches that echoed off the trees with strength that should be killing each other.

Jake let out a yell that mixed pain and rage that made Bella flinch.

The two of them continued to scuffle until they were separated and Bella was approached by the supposed leader. She felt small next to the taller guy, easily outclasses Jake in pure muscle mass that it made her question, for a brief moment of insanity, what kind of protein the tribe eats to create these kinds of guys. Reason returned when the leader’s voice rang into her ears.

“I think it's best if you leave.” He said harshly, though it lacked malice directed at her.

“We were just about to do that.” Jake snarled, wiping blood off his chin as he shrugged off the hands of one of his friends.

“No Jacob, you need to stay here.” The man said seriously.

“I’m going on a date with a pretty lady that I owe my entire attention to.” He smirked and started gently pushing Bella towards her truck by her shoulders. Bella noted that, the entire time Jake is leading her, he’s using his entire body to block the other boys from her view. “You can’t stop me.”

There was a ripping sound behind them and a deep, animalistic snarl followed almost directly after. It wasn’t the leader, who had turned and glared. 

“Paul!” The man snarled, it was all suddenly a blur. Bella somehow wound painlessly on her rear in the gravel, her back pressed against the front left tire of her truck, a huge brown wolf took the place of Jake, an equally large, although somewhat smaller in stature, grey wolf was facing off against it with bared teeth and a deep growl that let loose with nearly every breath.

The brown wolf let out a menacing snarl as Bella’s eyes widened. What the hell was happening?! She couldn’t help but notice that the massive brown wolf was standing in a protective stance in front of her, but just enough away to not tumble and crush her if the grey one attacked.

The leader was seething, his shoulders trembling as he crouched. It came as a shock when in his place only a few seconds later, stood a massive, much larger than the other two, black wolf.

Bella’s head began to swim, the sky almost spinning as she began to feel nauseous. “What… is going on…” she mumbled, more to herself rather than to anyone else. She didn’t feel scared even though she probably should.

Barking and loud thudding and growls went on for a few minutes while the grey and brown wolves fought before the grey one was pinned and the black one let out a loud bark. They both shifted back to their human selves, panting and healing cuts covering their bare bodies.

Bella was lifted suddenly which jolted her out of her confused stupor. “Eep!” She squeaked as she was carried bridal style towards the house by a very naked Jake. Luckily the way he held her left everything below his waist to her imagination. And her imagination was going wild.

“Put me down…” She nearly stammered as Jake kicked open his front, before gently plopping her on the couch, her hands covering her face until she heard his bedroom door shut.

This is all too much… She thought to herself, she felt like she was going to faint from all the blood in her head. Her heart pounded in her ears and she felt dizzy just from sitting in the living room.

She could hear him shuffling around in his room before the door swung open. At this point she was sitting up on the couch with her feet on the floor and her face in her hands with her elbows resting on her knees. 

“Okay…” Jake’s voice brought her out of her inner monologue. “I have a lot to explain.”

He sat down in the recliner a few feet to her right. But she refused to meet his eyes. He carried her… While naked… She was so close… to that.

“I… um… I’m going to get you some water.” Jake stood up abruptly and went into the kitchen. She heard him pour her a glass and felt the cool cup touch her hand, which she took with shakiness, but she didn’t drop any water. “So… I can turn into a wolf.”

“I got that much, Jake! What the hell was all of that about?! You… you guys turned into giant wolves and fought each other!” Bella bit her lips, stammering as she tried to collect her thoughts. “Do you have any idea how terrifying that is?!”

“I know, Bella… look, just give me a chance to explain uninterrupted. Okay?” Jake pleaded with Bella and when she nodded, he smiled gratefully. “Thank you… now… to explain it, I’m going to have to talk about my tribe’s history.”

Bella and Jake didn’t go to lunch until it was late enough to call it dinner.


	11. Chapter 11

It had been about two weeks since I officially became Edweird’s girlfriend, when Bella first approached me during lunch with that nervous expression she usually had when she was feeling exceptionally anxious, I knew something was up. When she opened her mouth to speak I felt a shock course through my bones as my jaw dropped. Soon, a sound that was a mixture of a squeak and a scream came out.

That was how we found ourselves here, standing outside the treeline, dressed in jeans, warm jackets and comfy ass hiking boots. Our respective dates were waiting for us to move along and start up the semi-steep incline. I had a backpack with our lunch, a thermos filled with deer’s blood in my pack as well for Edward. I happen to know a butcher and he was able to get me quite a bit of fresh animal blood. I had to look up a few recipes that include animal blood in the recipe, there were quite a few of them in order to give him an excuse to actually sell me the blood, something about legalities on it to people who don’t know what they’re doing with it. 

Hiking my pack up higher onto my shoulder I looked over to Bella, she was taking several deep breaths. I could tell she was nervous.

“Come on.” I grabbed her arm and started pulling her after me, linking our arms together. “Neither Jake nor I will let you trip or fall.” I grinned at her. Getting a shy but grateful smile in return.

“Thanks Jess.” she replied softly, accepting the help up over a rather large rock. Before she basically fell into Jacob’s arms. Jake and I exchanged amused looks before I hurried ahead of them to catch up with Edward.

‘I brought some deer’s blood. It should still be good, I kept it warm for you!’ I thought enthusiastically, getting an amused look from Edward and a silent thank you.

“Where exactly are we going?” Jake asked, holding hands with Bella, eyeing the surrounding trees with a somewhat untrustworthy glance. I occasionally caught myself staring at his muscles, which had seamless outlines of his thin jacket and… er… cargo shorts. He could have at least tried to dress like he was cold.

“We’re going to mine and Edward’s favorite meadow clearing, Bella should know it.” I raised my brow at her, seeing as I had taken her there once before. Her eyes widened and she got this slight excited glow to her face. 

“We’re going there?” She asked, nearly breathlessly as she had briefly lost focus and nearly fell. 

“Yup!” I grinned widely. “Thought it would be nice to enjoy a little picnic and enjoy some nature while we’re at it.”

“That explains why Bella asked what my favorite sandwiches are… I thought I was turning into one of those douche boyfriends for a minute.” Jacob let out an audible sigh of relief. Besides his light, tribal patterned pack, Jake had adamantly insisted he carried the food. 

Funnily enough, once Edward had realized that Jacob was helping us with our loads, insisted he carried the emergency kits Bella and I prepped ahead of time -I noticed the extra clothes for Jake- and the transforming picnic blanket. It took the two of us our entire respective car rides to the trail to prevent the boys from carrying our bags too. I get that to them, our bags must feel like empty pillow cases, but let us be independent damnit!

I kept close to Edward, seeing as today I seemed to be extra clumsy. I can’t help but feel a sense of foreboding. That something was gonna happen out of my and Bella’s control. I kept my eyes on the treeline and tried to pay attention to my surroundings at the same time but that was difficult.

Stumbling over a tree root, I grabbed onto Edward’s arm to catch my balance. “Damn nature and always tripping me.” I grumbled, getting an amused glance and near silent chuckle. 

Bella kept stopping along the trail, examining some flowers and ferns that are growing along the bottom of the trees. I couldn’t help but feel amused as I watched Jake explain what types of plants they were. I didn’t even know he knew what exact type of fern that was.

I watched the way they interacted and the way Bella’s face would redden everytime Jake would smile, and how his eyes would light up when she would laugh.

Soon enough Bella had enough knowledge to be able to identify plants on her own and had fun pointing them out. She even whipped out a professional camera and started taking pictures of birds and things that caught her fancy.

“Ginger needs to carry all the bags?” Jacob asked, his voice teasing but there was a sense of annoyance in his expression.

I eyed them both and noticed Edward was in fact carrying a bulkier and somewhat heavier looking bag than Jake. 

“Feeling weak, Jacob?” Edward was amused, smirking at the younger guy. Bella and I exchanged blank looks.

“Guys, come on.” Bella said, taking Jacob’s hand. 

We walked for a bit longer in silence, Bella’s expression was a bit frustrated as she fiddled with her jacket ends. I couldn't help but notice she kept glancing at the treelines by our trail.

“You okay?” I asked her, slowing my pace so I'm with her and not Edward. We had been walking for nearly an hour now, I realized that after checking my watch.

“I have to go…” She mumbled, shifting her shoulders a bit as we trailed a bit behind the boys.

My eyes widened as I soon realized that I too, had to go. “Guys we have to go to the bathroom!” I declared loudly, grabbing Bella’s arm. I’ve been camping enough times with my family to know how to use the bathroom in the wilderness. Just to be safe, my bag has biodegradable toiletries that we will be using.

“Alright, we’ll wait here, holler if you need anything.” Jacob said with a bit of a smirk.

“Don’t fight while we’re gone!” I called back to them as I carefully went into the treeline, before helping Bella follow after me. 

“We won’t!” Jake replied again, and soon their words to each other were a bit muffled by the trees as we traveled a bit further away.

“Let’s find a tree.” I mumbled, before seeing one without any annoying foliage under it. “There.” I took one side and she took the other. 

When we finished our business we began to head back towards the boys, but from behind we heard a grunting, growling sound, like something big was sniffing the ground before noticing us. We looked over our shoulders to see a massive bear with thick, brown fur lumbering in our direction, sniffing the ground against then in our direction.

I gripped Bella’s wrist tightly and forced her to remain still. I didn’t want to seem like a threat to this bear that was now staring at us intensely. It didn’t take long for it to stand on its hind legs and roar at us. Shit, it’s a grizzly!

Bella let out a scream, and cowered behind me as I choked on my own voice, fear locking my legs in place. We were going to die. Torn apart by this bear.

A brief rustle behind us had a choked whimper escape me as I pushed Bella behind me even further as the bear started to lung for us. Finally my voice rediscovered myself and I let out a scream.

Everything happened in a blur, one second the bear was charging us, the next it was tackled by something much bigger and reddish brown in fur. It was a wolf, one that should not exist in the natural world just from the sheer size of it with long fangs burying into the burly flesh of the bear. Soon, in an equally headache inducing blurr, Edward was on the bear’s back after the massive wolf pinned it, snapping its neck with a sharp twist of his arm.

I didn’t realize I had collapsed until I felt the dirt and rocks beneath my palm. Edward was quick to come to my side as the wolf sauntered off to the treeline before Jacob took its place and Bella handed him a shirt, shorts and sneakers. My eyes started to wander when a cold hand covered my eyes.

“Would you please dress up faster?” Edward said blankly, preventing me from pulling his hand away. 

“Yeah yeah, Bella doesn’t like seeing my naked body either, girls are bashful,” Jake said in a joking manner and I hear Bella let out a few lines of broken English. With the sound of a zip, Edward removed his hand from my eyes and while Jake was still shirtless, he at least had a pair of pants on. Bella was covering her face with her hands.

With Edward’s help, I stood up, brushed off my butt then gave Bella a lopsided grin. “Well… I guess we have some things to discuss huh?” I was almost expecting Bella to get heated and start freaking out, that would be a reasonable response. Instead she -shakily, I might add- walked to me and rested her head on my shoulder with a whimpered “mhm…”

I look down at her then at the boys. “Why don’t we talk when we finish the trail.”

“Fine by me.” Jake shrugged and began to help Bella back to the trail. Edward let me walk as far as I could before offering assistance when my brain seemed to go on a tangent around him.

I looked between the boys, although I already knew everything about their individual supernatural selves. But I knew we needed to explain things to Bella but not all the details, just that Edward isn’t a normal man.

The conversation was brief, but it got all the information we needed to exchange out in the open. We continued our hike in silence as Bella concentrated on her feet and I gripped Edward’s wrist over the rough parts.  
~~~

Bella was still shaking a bit as we returned to the trail. I handed the thermos Edward and he gave me a thankful smile, I nodded a bit, noticing Bella’s scraped knee. It didn’t bleed too much but I know that a single drop can be overwhelming.

He took sips every now and again as we reached the meadow. 

“Finally!” I exclaimed with a cheer, reaching into the pack on my back without removing it to pull out a huge blanket made specifically for picnics. “Let’s eat, I’m starved.” I layed out the quilted blanket before eagerly plopping down onto it, Bella taking a seat across from me with a look of relief on her face.

“It’s almost as though you weren’t almost killed by a bear.” Jake commented with a bit of a smirk which caused me to roll my eyes.

Edward took a seat next to me and held out the backpack with our food. “Yummy.” I hummed excitedly, accepting the beat up old backpack, pulling out my food, while Jake got his and Bella’s food from the back pack on his back.

We sat together and ate in silence, I munched on my lunchmeat sandwich while Bella quietly ate her pasta salad. I looked up at Edward who was calmly drinking from his thermos. Bella wasn’t all that surprised to find out that Edward was a vampire and I wasn’t shocked to find out Jake was a shifter. Originally he tried to say he was a werewolf but when I laughed he got very confused. 

“You’re not a werewolf, Jacob. Werewolves only transform under the full moon, you can transform at will. You’re a shapeshifter, only you can only turn into a wolf.” His eyes widened and he nodded in understanding. I would have been more shocked if he said he was a shifter from the beginning. 

Jake was munching on a thick sandwich filled with Salami and roast beef, his gaze on the clouds above us. Edward actually sparkled today and I couldn’t stop my gaze from trailing his glittering skin. It’s a breathtaking sight for sure, like staring at a diamond reflecting light in the sun… as cheesy as that is. It really does look like he’s made out of diamonds instead of glitter.

“You’re…” I started, but I couldn’t finish it out loud. Beautiful.

“Thanks.” He smirked a bit, causing me to roll my eyes.

Bella looked between the two of us, “Huh?” She said through a mouthful of food, blushing when she realized a bit of salad landed on her lap as a result.

“Edward can read minds,” I say calmly with another bite of my sandwich, smaller so I can tuck it in my cheek to keep talking. “He’s mentioned that he can’t read yours though… hence why he was interested in you before, it was something he had never encountered.”

“Oh… I guess that’s… cool,” Bella mumbled, cleaning herself up. Once she was done she leaned into Jake, using his free hand as a rest which he took in stride. I Wish I had a camera I could use right now. “Kind of an invasion of privacy though…”

“Tell me about it. I figured it out pretty quickly so every time he was in the same room as me I would play annoying songs in my head over and over to keep him out,” I say with a laugh while Edward cringed, taking a long swig of blood like it was beer.

Bella and I mutually sent waves of pity to the other’s boyfriend as we swapped embarrassing stories of each boy.


	12. Chapter 12

I sat on the swing in the backyard of my home. It was a rickety old thing, put up well over 12 years ago when I was 6-years-old. I gently swung back and forth, never taking my feet off the ground. It was a chilly evening with the sky above me a mix of blues and purples as night was slowly starting to wash in. 

Max poked his head out the back door, his expression bright. “Dinner is ready!” 

I smiled back at him, giving him a nod as I stood up from the swing not caring much if the old set decided to collapse then and there. I paused halfway across the lawn when the burning sensation of being watched made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. Turning, I stared hard into the darkness, my eyes drifting passed the treehouse and looking further passed and into the treeline that cut off the yard from the woods. When I saw nothing I decided to just shrug it off and go enjoy dinner with my family for the first time in weeks. If it’s Edward doing his weird vampire stuff I can just yell at him later with Alice’s help.

~~~ TIME SKIP ~~~

Edward and I sat in the school library, rather than sitting on the chairs we actually were sitting in a secluded section surrounded by bookshelves on the floor. We were laughing at a joke I made. I for some reason was talking about something that happened in class, perfectly mimicking the teacher’s voice and the student’s reply. I was attempting to keep it quiet as I did so, so that no one who was casually walking on the other side of the bookshelves could overhear. One of the best parts about having a boyfriend that can read minds is we know immediately if someone is listening in!

“It still amazes me that I can do that…” I mumbled softly, leaning my head back against the bookshelf behind me.

“You’re unique, I think it's awesome.” Edward commented, grinning at me with his breathtaking smile.

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I’m awesome.” I flexed my hand, trying to get some blood flowing after feeling it going numb from being unused. “I haven’t tried stronger voices… you know, like Mariah Carey. Or deep voices like that guy in P.E., just voices that could be within my range.”

“We can test them out some time if you want,” Edward offered, “At my house so no one accidentally finds out.”

I already feel like someone has figured it out. I didn’t need to say this out loud for Edward, he just looks at the window and frowns. I didn’t bother questioning him as he pulled out a random book from the shelf beside him and gave it to me to look at.

I gave him a weird look before realizing it was the book I had been looking for, for a while now. “Thanks.” I gave a grateful smile before cracking it open to read.

I tried to focus on my book instead of my boyfriend’s intense gaze outside the window. After 10 minutes of the increasing intensity and only 15 minutes left of study hall, I closed the book with a slam and stared at him. “You’re stressing me out, let’s go check this book out and sit with Angela. She wants to talk about graduation plans anyway.” She had been begging me to have this conversation for the last few days since graduation was coming up fast, only 3 weeks away now.

He looked at me before looking at the window once more before nodding and standing.

We got the book checked out before going over to Angela’s table and sitting next to her. We were planning a huge graduation party. Angela apparently had some important news to share with me and wanted this to be talked about as soon as possible.

“We were given permission to throw the party in the gym here.” Angela said, her whisper barely able to contain her excitement even with the tiny squeak in her voice. 

I couldn’t help but be excited as well, “That’s so awesome!” I almost shouted as I looked over at the librarian who shot us a glare. I smiled a bit embarrassed and sent her a nod before turning back to my tablemates. “What are we going to wear?” 

“I figured we would go in matching purple dresses.” Angela giggled, I know she likes the color purple too but not as much as me. No matter what, I’m positive Angela would look stunning in whatever she puts on anyway.

“Where are we going to get matching purple dresses?” I smiled at her with a raised brow when I caught a certain someone in the reflection of her glasses. I turned to look at said “someone” and I could see the wheels turning in Edward’s head. “Don’t you dare.” I pointed at him, raising a brow once more at him this time.

“What?” He asked, giving me this innocent expression. 

“Don’t get Alice involved. We don’t have to actually match.” I snorted at him. “She just said matching dresses as a joke, most likely we would both go with purple dresses anyway. We have two different body types and matching perfectly in dresses would look weird.” Besides, it’s an unspoken rule amongst girls to not wear the same dress as each other, something has to be different with either the color, cut, or design. 

Angela nodded, smiling at the two of us with this fond look in her eyes.

“What?” I looked at her as I tried to decipher her expression. 

She shook her head with another, wider smile. “You guys are cute, you can read each other like a book, almost as though you could read each other's minds.”

Edward and I exchanged amused looks. If only she knew.

“You’re doing it again!” Angela giggled, pushing her glasses up and gazing at us with her sparkling brown eyes.

“Angie, please.” I snorted, rolling my eyes. “There is no way anyone could read minds, you gotta be a superhero or something to be able to do that.”

“Or a super villain.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me, her nerdy side poking through.

I flushed bright red and smacked her arm. “Enough with that Ang, I was 13, god you have a crush on one super villain from a comic and it gets you labeled for life.” I rolled my eyes at her.

Angela opened her mouth to reply but was immediately interrupted by the school bell, signalling that study hall was over.

“Well, I’ll see you two at lunch.” I stood up, tucking my book into my backpack. “See ya!”

I got two goodbyes in return as I left the library.

~Mini Timeskip~

I sat with my lunch tray at our new usual table with Eric, Angela, Bella and for some reason this time around, Edward.

“Soooo, you girls wanted to talk about something?” I sat down and eyed Bella and Angela. 

“We need girl time!” Angela almost shouted, slamming a hand on the table top, wincing and shaking her hand afterwards. “Ow… anyway, it’s been far too long and honestly, we need to spend more time together anyway.” 

I looked to Bella who nodded earnestly.

“Alright, well I was planning on taking Max to La Push beach, you could bring the twins and we can all go swimming this Saturday. It’s supposed to be really nice out then.” I smiled at them both. Mom had bought me a new wetsuit so I could enjoy the Washington waters without freezing.

Angela brightened up at the idea of swimming. “Yeah! The water will be freezing though, so we better have hot drinks ready.”

“I will have thermos’ full of hot chocolate at the ready.” I laughed, already knowing that both girls love hot chocolate.

“Yummy~.” Angela hummed, getting a sound of agreement from Bella. “Thanks, Jessica! You’re the best”

“Of course! Now, let's talk about the theme of the graduation party and what dresses we’re gonna wear!”

~Le Time Skip~

“Jessica, honey!” My mom called for me from downstairs. I pull out an earbud and look away from my math homework to listen to her. “Can you come down here for a minute, please? We need to talk about something serious!” 

“Got it!” I rolled away from the book and off my bed, slipping on some slippers because the floor was cold today. I knew I wasn’t in trouble, my grades are up-to-standards, I text and call them whenever I do something outside of school, and besides that when I’m in trouble they go straight to me. Whatever the topic is, that means it’s something Max can hear as well.

When I reached down the stairs, mom and dad were on the couch. Dad was bouncing one of his legs, occasionally taking glances at any window that didn’t require him to turn his body. Max was in the kitchen having a snack, looks like oreos to me.

“What’s up?” I asked, sitting in the armchair and sinking into the seat and tucking my legs under me.

Dad stopped bouncing his leg. “We wanted to let you and Max know that we are installing security cameras around the property.” He raises his hand when I start to open my mouth. “We think someone is lurking around the property, I found a few footprints that may just be a walker not realizing where they were, but given what happened with Max… we’re not taking any chances.”

“We wanted to ask for your permission to install a camera pointed outside of your bedroom window, Jessica,” Mom said with a sheepish smile. “Your room has a good view of the yard and is elevated so we can see things farther.”

“Oh um… sure.” I’ll need to warn Edward ahead of time about trying to sneak into my room. He’s fast but I don’t have any doubts that my dad would notice movement and slow the footage. My butt buzzed and I pulled out my phone to see I got a text from Alice.

‘Just told Edward, he’s gone to sulk in his room ;P’

I chuckled a little, putting away my phone and glanced back up at my parents. “Oh! I’m going to La Push beach this weekend with Angela, Bella, and the little bros.” I had asked Max not long after coming home and he was pumped to get some fresh air.

“Remember to pack your wetsuit then.” Mom reminded me, pulling out her wallet and handing me a twenty and a ten. “Emergency money. I’d appreciate it back if you do not spend it.”

“Oh sure, thanks, mom.” I pocket the money with a mental note to put it in my wallet when I go back upstairs.

“Now that this is settled, I’m calling Frank to see about getting cameras,” Dad said, pulling out his own phone and walking away with it. “I want every inch of the property surveyed, including the living room, hallways, kitchen, and entrance to the backdoor.”

My phone buzzed again.

‘Edward is talking with Jasper as to how he can appropriately come to your house without your dad pulling a shotgun on him XD RIP date nights’

~~~TIME SKIP~~~

Walking around the back instead of using the back door, I lugged the heavy trash bag over to the large can and tossed it over. Scuffling noises and a grunt was heard behind me, causing my spine to go ramrod straight. I turned around and glared into the shadows.

“Who's there?!” I shouted, I saw brief movement before Edward stepped forward, his arm still in the shadows. Seriously? Is this his idea of a prank or something?!

I opened my mouth to yell at him for being a creep before he wrenched his arm forward and pulled a man out of the shadows.

My heart dropped to the pits of my stomach as I gazed at the familiar man’s face. Oh hell no!

“Get rid of him!” I squeaked, feeling my body tremble with genuine fear. “Edward, please!”

“I can’t do that Jess. He’s a vital member.” Edward said, and I cursed. He glared down at the man with annoyance. “I’ll take him to my house, for now you should go to bed, it's late.”

‘Stupid Demetri, stupid way to spell a name, gonna call him Dementri from now on.’ I grumbled to myself, and from Edward’s snort I can tell he heard that. A faint image in my head appeared, text from someone that typed too fast ranting about name spelling, throwing insult after insult at this particular vampire alone. Huh… that explains a lot.

Demetri wisely kept his mouth shut, watching me closely and glaring, his bright red eyes sent more trembles of fear down my spine.

Deciding to ignore the fear in favor of sticking my tongue out at him. He can’t do anything to me. If his masters sent him to watch me then that means they are interested in me. While extremely bad news for my humanity, it also meant that he can’t kill me.

“Hurry back with good news then.” I said seriously, I’ll leave my bedroom window unlocked, the camera’s are being installed sometime next week. I added silently for him. He nodded to me in response and was gone the next second.

“How long does it take to take out the trash!” My brother Max shouted at me from behind. 

“Oh hush short-stack.” I rolled my eyes, ruffling his hair even though he was only about 2 inches shorter than me now.

“I’m almost as tall as you! Stop calling me short!” He glared up at me, his bright green eyes reassuring me of his humanity.

“I’ll call you short even if you’re 6 feet tall!” I shouted back at him. “Just try me, midget.”

“AGH! You’re so aggravating!” He grumbled.

“I know I am!” I smiled sweetly. “What do you want for your birthday?” I asked as an added note. His 12th birthday was coming up fast, only 2 weeks away now. 

He paused mid insult and closed his mouth with a click. “A telescope.” 

I raised a brow and he raised one back.

“Alright, I’ll take up extra shifts at work then.” I smiled ruffling his hair. “Telescopes are expensive after all.”

His eyes widened. “Wait, you mean it?!” He called after me as I walked around him.

“Of course, I’m your big sister!” I smiled at him. “I want you to be happy with what I get you!”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess and the girls + the little brothers enjoy a day at the beach

I couldn’t stop the excitement as I herded Max into the back seat of my car early Saturday morning. “Well be back later mom!” I called, taking the thermos’ in a cooler with hot water bottles to keep the drinks hot. In the back of the trunk was a bag full of snacks, towels, garbage bags for trash and anything else I thought we would need.

“Have fun you two! Tell Angela and Bella we said hi!” Mom called to us with a fond smile.

“We will!” I buckled up and made sure that Max was buckled before handing him the cooler to keep steady.

Pulling out of the driveway I made the short drive to Angela’s house and honked my horn 3 times, the usual signal that I was waiting for her.

She came out in a nice flowy floral top and plain white leggings. Her two little brothers, identical twins, Joshua and Isaac were close behind her in green zip up vests and brown shorts and blue sneakers were already opening the door and taking a seat on either side of Max. As they climbed in they kept pushing and shoving each other all the way while Angela took up the front seat.

“Buckle up boys! We’re going to the beach!” I shouted over their arguing.

“Where is Bella?” Angela asked curiously.

“She’s gonna meet us there, she wanted to stop by Jake’s and pick up something.” I rolled my eyes with a snort. “She and that boy are attached to the hips, but I told her this is us time, no boyfriends.” I smiled fondly with a shake of my head. 

Angela nodded and smiled as well. “Let’s go swimming then.”

I laughed before starting the car up again and turning on music for the long drive to La Push beach.

~TIME SKIP~

Bella, Angela, and I all sat on the massive blanket, watching the boys closely as they ran around the beach and tried throwing water at each other. We were somewhat exhausted, having to climb over and around several piles of driftwood that covered the beautiful beach in order to find a decent resting spot.

“You know, they’re nearly 12 years old, you would think they would at the very least know that you can’t throw water with your hands.” I smirked as the one of the twins, Joshua I think, tackled Max into the water. “Be careful!” I shouted at them, getting laughter in response.

“They’re still kids after all.” Angela smiled, “I don’t think it's their real intention to throw the water.”

“That’s true. It makes me happy to see Max laughing and smiling like that. After… you know…” I sighed, getting nods from both the dark haired girls. “It’s great seeing him act like a kid.”

“Besides, at least the boys aren’t playing around the giant driftwood” Angela stood up, legs for days being revealed as she removed her leggings. I couldn’t help but admire them. “Are you going to swim, Jess?”

“Yeah, you know I love to swim!” I stood up, fluidly removing my own clothes to reveal a blue and purple, large petals covered the suit in a galaxy coloration pattern. A turtleneck-like collar and long sleeves and pant legs with silver accents going all through it. I haven’t used it yet, but mom said that it had great ratings and was perfect for swimming in colder waters.

“I’m going to stay here and watch the boys.” Bella smiled sheepishly, hugging her woolen sweater close to her as she brought her knees to her chest. I swear there is another layer under that sweater that we can’t see.

“That’s fine, I know to you it's rather cold, but for us, this is perfect swimming weather, we don’t get weather like this and have it be sunny all the time! So we’re going to take advantage of this day!” I laughed before running towards the waves.

“Washingtonians and not feeling cold…” I heard Bella murmur to herself. Well, her fault for moving from one of the hottest states to one of the coldest and wettest on the West Coast!

I made it a habit to swim as often as possible, even going so far as to use the school’s pool for practice. I can swim very well now and it makes me happy that my body cooperates with me in the waters. I had to run out far to even get the water above my ankles, I think we came in during low-tide. I ran past the large rock formations that stood out against everything around them, having to reconfigure my steps as the sand submitted to the weight of my feet. This sand is going to stick, it will not leave, and I am going to have to vacuum my car when this is done.

I dove into the waves, eyes closed as I moved.

I swam around the waters, careful of my surroundings and keeping an eye out for floating driftwood that may have been swallowed by nearby beaches and transported here. Plantlife and other water creatures were abundant, but none of them came near me as I swam. I couldn’t go out too far, not only are there whales but the waves have been stronger than usual for low-tide. When I surfaced, I winced as when I surfaced the beach was farther away than expected to be. It wasn’t far enough that I was at risk of being swept away, but far away that my group looked like little dots.

“Welp.” I sighed, kicking my feet to stay afloat. “Guess I gotta swim back.”

I swam the length to the shore, allowing the waves to push me closer when I got tired. Relaxing just enough to be carried closer to the beach, but remaining alert enough to keep my head above the water, I watched as the tiny specs in the distance became more distinct and I was beginning to see the shape of hair and the color of their clothing. 

“What happened?” Max ran up to me, his expression slightly panicked, as soon as I stepped onto the sand and quickly moved my foot away when I felt wood about to greet my flesh.. 

“I just got really into the water and didn’t realise I had been almost carried out to sea…” I smiled sheepishly at him, rubbing the top of his head gently.

“I’m a good swimmer Max, you know that.” 

“That doesn’t stop me from worrying when you disappear into the ocean like that.” He pouted and swatted my hand away. He crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

“I’m sorry…” I smiled a bit more genuinely, a little guilty for scaring him like that. “Who’s up for some snacks?” I said loud enough for our friends to hear.

The twins gave simultaneous whoops of excitement and ran towards my car, where they knew the snacks were hidden. Angela followed them, my car keys in her hand so she could unlock the trunk.

I jogged up to them, grinning a bit as I reached into the bag full of half frozen ice packs and pulled out an apple, starling both the twins who had begun to fight over the last bag of cheesy potato chips. 

“Just share it, there's still plenty of fruit and sandwiches to eat!” I snorted as I grabbed a lunchmeat sandwich from the bag as well, removing the plastic wrap and tossing it into the trash bag I also had in the trunk.

We all had our respective lunches with us girls mostly having the healthier stuff because the boys really wanted to have the chips to themselves. Bella grabbed the tubbawears that were used to contain the sandwiches and divided the chips amongst the boys.

“Good thinking Bella,” Angela said with a satisfied nod, taking a bite out of her roast beef sandwich, “You boys behave. For every argument you three have we girls get to take a handful of chips from each of your bowls!”

Our little brothers were surprisingly quieter and significantly more polite after that.

It was surprisingly relaxing, no worries about life or death situations, no anxiety, just us girls and boys acting our ages, if not a bit younger. I couldn’t help the wide smile as I looked at my two friends, my best friend Angela had apparently said something funny enough for Bella to snort water through her nose which just resulted in me laughing.

This was wonderful. I definitely needed this.


End file.
